U.S. Department
of Justice
Information
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| UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
INFORMATION The United States of America, acting through its attorneys, charges: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE OFFENSE1. JON S. WAMSER is hereby made a defendant on the charge stated below. 2. Beginning at least as early as the mid-1980's, and continuing until or about January 1996, the exact dates being unknown to the United States, the defendant and co-conspirators, Zelman Levine, Richard Machas, Schutz International, Inc., and other corporations and individuals, entered into and engaged in a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing prices, rigging bids, and allocating contracts for the sale of point-of-purchase displays to Miller Brewing Company. The combination and conspiracy, engaged in by the defendant and co-conspirators, is an unreasonable restraint of interstate trade and commerce, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1). 3. The charged combination and conspiracy consisted of a continuing agreement, understanding, and concert of action among the defendant and co-conspirators, the substantial terms of which were:
4. For the purpose of forming and effectuating the aforesaid combination and conspiracy, the defendant and co-conspirators did those things which they combined and conspired to do, including, among other things:
5. During the period covered by this Information, defendant JON S. WAMSER, of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, was involved in the sale of point-of-purchase displays in the United States from approximately March 1982 through the end of the conspiracy period in his capacity as an employee and owner of Everbrite, Inc. Everbrite, Inc. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware with its principal place of business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. WAMSER was first a Sales Trainee, then an Account Executive, and later a Vice-President of Special Accounts at Everbrite, Inc. In April 1994, WAMSER was promoted to Vice-President Account Executive and in October 1995 WAMSER became an Everbrite Senior Vice-President. WAMSER is currently the Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Everbrite, Inc. WAMSER is also an Everbrite, Inc. director. During the period covered by this Information, WAMSER was responsible for developing, producing, selling and distributing point-of-purchase displays to Miller Brewing Company. 6. Various corporations and individuals, including Zelman Levine, Richard Machas, and Schutz International, Inc., not made defendants in this Information, participated as co-conspirators in the offense charged herein and performed acts and made statements in furtherance thereof. 7. Whenever in this Information reference is made to any act, deed, or transaction of any corporation, the allegation means that the corporation engaged in the act, deed, or transaction by or through its officers, directors, employees, agents, or other representatives while they were actively engaged in the management, direction, control, or transaction of its business or affairs. IV. TRADE AND COMMERCE8. Point-of-purchase displays include plastic or neon bar taps, clocks, lights, lamps, signs, or other miscellaneous promotional items that contain the brand name or logo of the product to be sold. Point-of-purchase displays are placed by breweries in bars, restaurants, and stores to advertise their products to the consumer. 9. During the period covered by this Information, Miller Brewing Company purchased substantial quantities of permanent point-of-purchase displays from suppliers located throughout the United States, including from Everbrite, Inc. and other corporate conspirators. These purchases were often made by issuing a contract or purchase order to a supplier after the supplier had submitted a written price quotation or bid pursuant to the Miller Brewing Company's practice of seeking competitive bids for sizable contracts. 10. During the period covered by this Information, the defendant, acting on behalf of Everbrite, Inc., and co-conspirators obtained a substantial number of contracts and purchase orders for point-of-purchase displays from Miller Brewing Company through the submission of collusive, rigged bids. 11. During the period covered by this Information, the defendant, acting on behalf of Everbrite, Inc., and co-conspirators sold and distributed point-of-purchase displays in a continuous and uninterrupted flow of interstate commerce to Miller Brewing Company which is located in a state other than the states in which certain co-conspirators developed and produced point-of-purchase displays. 12. During the period covered by this Information, Everbrite, Inc. developed, produced, sold, and distributed point-of-purchase displays in Wisconsin and other states using materials and supplies obtained in interstate commerce and distributed certain point-of-purchase displays at the direction of Miller Brewing Company to states other than Wisconsin. 13. During the period covered by this Information, the activities of the defendant and co-conspirators with respect to the sale of point-of-purchase displays to Miller Brewing Company were within the flow of, and substantially affected, interstate trade and commerce. V. JURISDICTION AND VENUE14. The combination and conspiracy charged in this Information was formed and carried out, in part, in the Eastern District of Wisconsin within the five years preceding the filing of this Information. ALL IN VIOLATION OF TITLE 15, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 1. Dated:
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