Additional defendants accused in $100 million bidding scheme in Oklahoma

A federal grand jury in Oklahoma City has indicted a Weatherford-based erosion control company and a top executive in a price-fixing conspiracy that targeted more than $100 million in publicly funded transportation contracts across the state.

Sioux Erosion Control Inc. along with Vice President BG Dale Biscoe and Randall David Shelton, an estimator, are accused of violating the Sherman Act — the federal antitrust law prohibiting unreasonable restraints of trade — by conspiring with their competitors to raise and maintain prices for products and services from September 2017 through April 2023.

The three defendants have entered pleas of not guilty.

“We’ve not done anything wrong,” Mack Martin, an attorney for Biscoe, told The Oklahoman. “We’re gonna defend this to the end. We’re proud of the work we’ve done.”

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Sioux issued the following statement:

“Sioux Erosion Control, BG Biscoe and Randy Shelton entered pleas of not guilty and will vigorously defend the charges. We are proud of the high-quality soil erosion service we have provided and continue to provide in Oklahoma.”

Erosion control products and services, including the use of solid slab sodding, are often incorporated into contracts with federal, state and local governments for publicly funded projects including highway construction and repair.

In addition to conspiring to raise prices for sod, prosecutors accuse the defendants of agreeing to divide up contracts across different areas of Oklahoma and rigging bids for projects by submitting intentionally high-priced bids or outright refusing to bid.

Earlier this year, four others, including a former Sioux employee, pleaded guilty for their roles in the alleged conspiracy. They have not yet been sentenced.

They each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine.

The U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office investigated the case.

“We will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to uncover these harmful schemes and hold the perpetrators responsible,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Joseph Skarda of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office said in a news release.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Additional defendants accused in $100 million bidding scheme in Oklahoma