FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1997                        (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

   NEW JERSEY AMMUNITION MANUFACTURER CHARGED WITH BID RIGGING
     
     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A New Jersey ammunition manufacturer was
charged today by the Department of Justice with conspiring to rig
bids on sales of components for ammunition produced at the Milan
Army Ammunition Plant (MAAP) in Milan, Tennessee. 

     The Department, in a one-count felony charge filed today in
U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tennessee, said Charles E. Green
& Son Inc., of Newark, New Jersey conspired to rig bids on sales
of components for ammunition produced at the Milan Army
Ammunition Plant in violation of the Sherman Act.  The conspiracy
began in 1988 and continued until 1994, the Department said.     
     "Those who conspire to corrupt the procurement functions
essential to our country's defense should expect to face criminal
charges," said Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General in
charge of the Antitrust Division.

     According to the charges, Charles E. Green & Son Inc. and
co-conspirators devised a scheme to create the illusion of
competition by submitting intentionally high, complementary bids
to Martin Marietta for components needed for the manufacture of
ammunition.  The charge resulted from a grand jury investigation
in Jackson, Tennessee into procurement practices at the Milan
Army Ammunition Plant.  The investigation is continuing.
 
     Thus far, eight cases have resulted from the ongoing
investigation conducted by the Department's Antitrust Division,
the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee,
the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Army, the Defense
Investigative Service, the Defense Criminal Investigative
Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Criminal
Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. 
  
     The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted of a
violation of the Sherman Act is a fine of $10 million, twice the
gross pecuniary gain derived from the crime, or twice the gross
pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime, whichever is
greatest.  

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