A Connecticut insulation contracting firm's co-owner was sentenced to 15 months in prison following his guilty plea to bid-rigging and fraud that targeted private and public entities.
Michael S. Flynn was sentenced Feb. 10 by a federal judge in Bridgeport, Conn., for his part in seven years of bid-rigging and fraud schemes, according to a Feb. 14 U.S. Department of Justice news release. Flynn also was ordered to pay $1,062,155 in restitution. He pleaded guilty May 1, 2019.
"Bid rigging and fraud are serious crimes with serious consequences," Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said in the news release. "This sentence reflects the division’s commitment to seeking appropriate punishment for criminal antitrust violations and ensuring that victims of antitrust crimes are made whole.”
Flynn's sentencing was the seventh to arise from DOJ's investigation into the insulation contracting industry, according to the release.
Starting in 2011, Flynn allegedly conspired with other insulation contractors to rig bids and engage in fraud for insulation installation contract at universities, hospitals and other public and private entities in Connecticut, the release reported. Victims included included the University of Connecticut, the City of Hartford, PepsiCo. Inc., Stamford Hospital and Yale University.
"This defendant's collusive conduct victimized hospitals, universities and businesses throughout Connecticut," U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery said in the news release. "This prison term and the penalties imposed on all individuals and companies involved in this scheme should deter others from engaging in such criminal, anti-competitive behavior. I thank the FBI, DCIS and the Antitrust Division for their efforts in bringing these perpetrators to justice."
"This fraud and deception of the public and commercial consumer has ended with this sentence," FBI New Haven Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Jean Pierre Njock said in the news release. "We at the FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue those that choose to engage in antitrust crimes."
