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.
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