WASHINGTON, D.C.— A federal grand jury yesterday charged a former owner and CEO of the Russell-Stanley Corporation with lying to a grand jury during an investigation into alleged price fixing in the metal container industry.

The indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, charges Stanley S. Bey of Rumson, New Jersey, with two counts of making false material declarations before a Chicago grand jury on December 8, 1994.

Thus far, the Department's Antitrust Division has filed 13 criminal cases involving price fixing in the metal container industry against 13 companies and 16 individuals. Fines imposed total approximately $10 million.

According to the charges, Bey provided false testimony during a grand jury investigation into price fixing of steel drums sold in the eastern United States from April 1986 through April 1990. Bey was the former owner and CEO of the Russell-Stanley Corporation, which he sold to a group of investors in June 1989.

Russell-Stanley Corporation manufactures steel drums at plants in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and Houston, Texas. The company is headquartered in Red Bank, New Jersey.

In June 1993, Russell-Stanley pleaded guilty to charges of price fixing and mail fraud in connection with the sale of steel drums in the eastern United States and obstruction of justice in connection with the grand jury investigation. As part of the plea agreement, Russell-Stanley paid a fine of $1.85 million. In addition, two other former company executives have been convicted of steel drum price fixing in the eastern United States following jury trials.

Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division, said the ongoing investigation into collusion among metal container manufacturers in the United States is being conducted by the Litigation I Section of the Antitrust Division with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The maximum penalty for an individual convicted of either of the two counts charged in the indictment is a fine of $250,000 and five years imprisonment.

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