An area broiler chicken producer has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver, Colorado, for price fixing and bid rigging.
The Department of Justice issued a press release recently stating that a grand jury indicted Norman W. Fries, Inc., Doing Business as Claxon Poultry Farm in Claxton with participating in a nationwide conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chicken products.
Court documents show that at least as early as 2012 until at least 2019, Claxton Poultry and coconspirators including current President Mikell Fries and Vice President Scott Brady, conspired to eliminate competition for sales of broiler chicken products sold to grocers and restaurants. Fries and Brady are among 10 individuals charged in their roles in the conspiracy. Pilgrim’s Pride, another major broiler chicken producer based in Greely, Colorado, pled guilty and was sentenced in February of this year and ordered to pay a criminal fine over $107 million for its role in the conspiracy.
Claxton Poultry is charged with a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, and if convicted, faces a statutory maximum fine of $100 million. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by victims a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
This case is a result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the broiler children industry. The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust division with the assistance of the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General.
Acting Assistance Attorney General Richard Powers of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, stated after the indictments was returned, [quote]: “As this charge shows, we will not hesitate to prosecute crimes designed to put money incorporate coffers and line executives’ pockets at the expense of everyday American including the hundreds of millions of us who rely on chicken to be an affordable staple food, [unquote].
