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UNITED
STATES
DISTRICT
COURT
THE GRAND JURY CHARGES: COUNT 1 I. Description of the Offense 1. The following corporation and individual are hereby indicted and made defendants on the charge stated below:
2. Beginning in or around January 2005 and continuing until May 16, 2005, the exact dates being unknown to the Grand Jury, the defendants, James Govostes, and another co-conspirator entered into and engaged in a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by rigging bids on contracts for the installation of commercial refrigeration in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. The combination and conspiracy engaged in by the defendants and their co-conspirators was in unreasonable restraint of interstate trade and commerce in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1). 3. The charged combination and conspiracy consisted of a continuing agreement, understanding and concert of action among the defendants and their co-conspirators, the substantial terms of which were to submit rigged bids to Safeway Inc. for the installation of commercial refrigeration equipment in grocery stores in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. II. Means and Methods of the Conspiracy 4. For the purpose of forming and carrying out the charged combination and conspiracy, the defendants and their co-conspirators took various actions, including, among other things:
III. Defendants and Co-conspirators 5. ALLIANCE MECHANICAL, LLC ("ALLIANCE") is an Arizona limited liability corporation with its principal place of business in Phoenix, Arizona. During the period covered by this Indictment, Alliance was engaged in the installation of commercial refrigeration in Arizona, including in the Phoenix metropolitan area. 6. During the period covered by this Indictment, defendant KENDALL POPE was thepresident and co-owner of defendant ALLIANCE. 7. Another corporation and James Govostes, who were not made defendants in this Indictment, participated, as co-conspirators, in the offense charged in this Indictment and performed acts and made statements in furtherance of the charged offense. 8. Whenever in this Indictment reference is made to any act, deed, or transaction of any corporation, such allegation shall be deemed to mean that the corporation engaged in such act, deed, or transaction by or through its officers, directors, agents, employees, or representatives while they were actively engaged in the management, direction, control, or transaction of its business or affairs. IV. Trade and Commerce 9.Commercial refrigeration includes the refrigerated cases in grocery stores such as deli cases, dairy cases, and frozen food cases. 10. During the period covered by this Indictment, substantial quantities of refrigeration fixtures, materials, and equipment, necessary for the defendants and their co-conspirators to perform commercial refrigeration installation projects in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area, were transported across state lines in a continuous and uninterrupted flow of interstate commerce and in a manner substantially affecting interstate commerce. Namely, a substantial portion of refrigeration equipment installed by the defendants and their co-conspirators in the provision of their commercial refrigeration services in Arizona was manufactured outside the State of Arizona. 11.During the period covered by this Indictment, both the general business activities of the victim, Safeway Inc., which is headquartered in California, and the commercial refrigeration installation activities of a co-conspirator, also headquartered in California, were conducted across state lines and had a not insubstantial effect on interstate commerce. The co-conspirator does refrigeration installation business throughout the western United States while Safeway Inc. does business throughout the United States. 12. During the period covered by this Indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators communicated in furtherance of the conspiracy across state lines between Utah and Arizona, and both invoices and payments for the provision of the defendants and their co-conspirators' commercial refrigeration services to Safeway Inc. were transmitted across state lines. 13. During the period covered by this Indictment, the commercial refrigeration installation activities of the defendants and their co-conspirators that are the subject of this Indictment were within the flow of, and had a not insubstantial effect on, interstate trade and commerce. V. Jurisdiction and Venue 14. The combination and conspiracy charged in this Indictment was carried out, in part, within the District of Arizona within the five years preceding the return of this Indictment. In violation of Title 15, United States Code, Section 1.
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