FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1994 (202) 616-2771 TDD (202) 514-1888 TWO COMPANIES AND TWO EXECUTIVES CHARGED WITH PRICE FIXING ON WHOLESALE PLUMBING SUPPLIES WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two companies and two individuals were charged today with fixing prices on wholesale plumbing supplies in Amarillo, Texas, according to the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. The four criminal cases, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, named as defendants: Morrison Supply Company, Fort Worth, Texas; Darrell Hawkins of Amarillo, Texas, a Morrison Supply Company branch manager; Amarillo Winnelson Company Inc., Amarillo, Texas; and Gerald Brandt of Amarillo, Texas, president of Amarillo Winnelson Company Inc. The government charged that each defendant conspired with others, from as early as September 1989 until at least December 1991, to raise, fix, and maintain prices for the sale of wholesale plumbing supplies sold by the defendants and others from their places of business in Amarillo, Texas, in violation of Section One of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1. Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of (MORE) the Antitrust Division, said the charges resulted from a grand jury investigation in Fort Worth into suspected price fixing in the wholesale plumbing supply industry in Amarillo, Texas. The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's Dallas Field Office with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Amarillo Office, and is continuing. The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted under the Sherman Act is a fine of $10,000,000, 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 is three years in prison and a fine of $350,000, twice the pecuniary gain derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime, whichever is greater. ##### 94-689