TEXAS COMPANY CHARGED WITH FIXING PRICES
OF AUTOMOTIVE REPLACEMENT GLASS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice today charged a Fort Worth glass company with participating in a conspiracy to fix prices on automotive replacement glass sold by retail glass stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The felony Information, filed in U.S. District Court in Dallas, charges A-1 Auto Glass Inc. with conspiring with others to raise the price of automotive replacement glass prices by increasing installation labor rates and lowering discounts on automotive replacement glass. A-1 Auto Glass participated in the conspiracy from at least as early as February 1998 until at least April 1998.

Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division, said the charge resulted from an investigation by a grand jury in Dallas into suspected price fixing in the automotive replacement glass industry. The investigation, which is ongoing, is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's Dallas Field Office and the Dallas Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted under the Sherman Act is a fine in an amount equal to the largest of (a) $10,000,000; (b) twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the crime; or (c) twice the gross pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime.

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