FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1995 (202) 616-2771 TDD (202) 514-1888 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CHARGES TWO TEXAS WHOLESALE PLUMBING COMPANIES AND EXECUTIVE WITH PRICE FIXING WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal grand jury in Dallas today indicted two Texas wholesale plumbing companies, one in Lubbock and the other in Amarillo, and the president of the Lubbock company for conspiring to fix prices for the sale of wholesale plumbing supplies in Lubbock, said the Department of Justice. This is the eighth case filed as a result of the Department's antitrust investigation involving wholesale plumbing supplies sold in west and northwest Texas. The Department's Antitrust Division charged that Oberkampf Supply Company of Lubbock Inc., its president, Cyril Reasoner, and Clowe & Cowan Inc. of Amarillo, Texas, conspired with others, between July 1990 and October 1990, to fix prices on wholesale plumbing supplies sold from their sales facilities in Lubbock in violation of the Sherman Act. The indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court in Lubbock, Texas, charged that the defendants carried out the conspiracy through meetings where wholesale plumbing supply prices were discussed and minimum prices charged to customers were agreed upon. Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division, said the indictment resulted from a federal grand jury investigation conducted in Dallas into suspected price fixing in the wholesale plumbing supply industry in Texas. The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's Dallas Field Office with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted under the Sherman Act for a violation committed prior to November 16, 1990, is a fine of $1 million, twice the pecuniary gain the corporation derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime, whichever is greater. The maximum penalty for an individual convicted under the Sherman Act for a violation committed prior to November 16, 1990, is three years in prison and a fine of $250,000, twice the pecuniary gain the individual derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime, whichever is greater. ### 95-511