PONTIAC, Mich. — A former senior executive of a Michigan asphalt paving company has been sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay a $500,000 fine for his role in multiple bid-rigging conspiracies aimed at manipulating asphalt paving contracts across the state.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bruce F. Israel, the former vice president of Asphalt Specialists LLC (ASI), pleaded guilty in January 2024 to participating in conspiracies with Al’s Asphalt Paving Company Inc., F. Allied Construction Company Inc., and employees from those companies. The conspiracies allowed the companies to rig bids in each other’s favor, eliminating fair competition for lucrative asphalt paving contracts.
The schemes spanned several years, with Israel involved in bid-rigging activities with Al’s Asphalt from March 2013 to November 2018, and with Allied from July 2017 to May 2021, court documents revealed.
As part of the conspiracy, the companies and their employees coordinated bid prices, ensuring that predetermined losing companies submitted intentionally uncompetitive bids. This practice gave customers the false appearance of a competitive bidding process while the contract winner had already been selected behind closed doors.
Israel is one of seven individuals charged in connection with the ongoing federal antitrust investigation into collusion and other anticompetitive conduct in the asphalt paving services industry. Three companies, including ASI, have also been charged. To date, the investigation has resulted in over $8.7 million in criminal fines.
Israel’s former employer, ASI, pleaded guilty to its role in the conspiracies earlier this year and was sentenced to pay a $6.5 million fine in August 2024. Two other former ASI executives, Daniel Israel and Timothy Baugher, have also pleaded guilty to their involvement in the bid-rigging schemes.
The investigation was conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office, in coordination with the Offices of Inspectors General for the Department of Transportation and U.S. Postal Service.
The Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office is prosecuting the case, which remains part of an active, ongoing investigation.
