3rd company convicted of concrete price fixing

WTHR.com is the news leader for Indianapolis and Central Indiana. Get the best news, weather, sports and traffic information from Channel 13.

Indianapolis - A federal jury convicted a Noblesville company and two of its executives on charges of conspiring with central Indiana competitors to fix the price for ready-mix concrete.

Jurors on Thursday found MA-RI-AL Corp., which does business as Beaver Materials, guilty of conspiracy. They also convicted cousins Chris and Ricky Beaver on charges of conspiracy and lying to FBI investigators.

Two other companies have been fined more than $30 million and several company executives have been sentenced to prison for their role in what prosecutors said was a scheme that lasted from January 2000 to May 2004 and resulted in millions of dollars in illegal profits.

Officials from the other companies testified during this week's trial that Chris Beaver, the operations manager for Beaver Materials, and Ricky Beaver, the commercial sales manager, attended meetings during which the firms agreed on prices and discounts and the timing of price increases.

The Beavers and the family owned company were the only ones whom prosecutors tied to the conspiracy that did not admit to their involvement.

Beaver Materials faces a potential fine of $10 million as a result of the verdict, but defense attorney Jeff Lockwood said he did not believe his clients regretted their decision to fight the allegations.

"When you're not guilty it is pretty difficult to make a deal," Lockwood said. "We didn't believe that there was ever any real evidence that they came to an agreement, joined a conspiracy, because no witness testified that they did anything except remain silent at these meetings."

Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's antitrust division, said he was pleased with the verdicts against the Beavers, calling them "participants in a price-fixing scheme that deprived consumers in Indianapolis of the benefit of a competitive marketplace."

Ready-mixed concrete is made on demand and often delivered to work sites by mixer trucks. Buyers include home owners, building contractors, schools and the government for projects such as sidewalks, patios, driveways, bridges and roads.

The scheme came to light last year when Irving Materials Inc. of Greenfield agreed to pay $29.2 million in fines, which prosecutors said was the largest ever assessed in a domestic antitrust investigation.

A judge in June ordered Builder's Concrete & Supply Co. of Fishers to pay a $4 million fine for its role.

(Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)