The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) has announced that a former owner of contractor companies providing fuel truck services to the U.S. Forest Service’s wildfire fighters pleaded guilty to violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. This announcement comes in the wake of a wiretap investigation that led to the indictment of two executives in December 2023.
According to a DOJ press release, Ike Tomlinson, aged 60, pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to conspiring to monopolize, rigging bids, and allocating territories. These actions are violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. A violation of this act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals.
The press release further details that Tomlinson conspired with co-defendant Kris Bird, aged 61, and others in at least two conspiracies. The first conspiracy began as early as March 2015 and continued through about March 2023. It involved Tomlinson conspiring to rig bids and allocate territories in the market for wildfire-fighting fuel truck services for dispatch centers of the U.S. Forest Service’s Great Basin wildfire dispatch region.
In another instance outlined by the press release, starting around February 2020 and continuing through about March 2023, Tomlinson conspired with Bird to monopolize that same market by excluding competitors and preserving his power to price higher. The DOJ said Tomlinson coordinated his bids with Bird to "squeeze," "drown," "punch," "low ball" and de-prioritize competing vendors on the Forest Service’s dispatch priority lists.
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division was quoted saying: "Congress criminalized conspiracies to monopolize in 1890 to protect the American promise of free enterprise." He added: "Today’s guilty plea shows that the Justice Department and its Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) partners will deploy every appropriate law enforcement tool—including court-authorized wiretaps—to prosecute blatant monopolistic conduct that harms the public."
U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit for the District of Idaho also commented on the case, stating: "Agencies like the U.S. Forest Service rely on a fair bidding process to secure the best deal at the best price for taxpayers." He further noted: "When contractors collude rather than compete, they wrong the public and honest competitors who submitted bids fair and square."
