FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1995                         (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

             JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CHARGES PENNSYLVANIA
                ALUMINUM COMPANY WITH PRICE FIXING

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A nationwide investigation into price
fixing in the painted aluminum industry has led to the filing of
criminal charges today against a Pennsylvania aluminum company
and its chief executive, said the Department of Justice.  These
are the first charges to come out of an ongoing investigation of
the industry conducted by the Department's Antitrust Division and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
     Alliance Metals Inc. of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and its
owner and president, Bradley B. Evans, were charged in U.S.
District Court in Atlanta, with conspiring with other sellers and
distributors of painted aluminum products to fix, raise and
maintain prices of painted aluminum products they sold throughout
the United States.  
     These painted aluminum products include the canopies and
signs that are painted brand-related colors and installed at
gasoline stations and convenience stores that have gasoline
pumps.
     Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General for the
Antitrust Division, said the conspiracy was formed in January of
this year and ended in mid-July, a few weeks after FBI agents
searched several suspects' offices in Pennsylvania and Florida.
     "Those who conspire to drive up the price of products should
expect to face criminal charges," Bingaman said.  
     The investigation is being conducted by the Division's
Atlanta Field Office, with the assistance of the FBI in Atlanta,
Philadelphia and West Palm Beach, Florida.
     Bingaman said the charges arose in connection with a federal
grand jury investigation in Atlanta into collusive practices by
sellers and distributors of painted aluminum products.
     The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted under the
Sherman Act for a violation committed after November 16, 1990, is
the greatest of a fine of $10 million, twice the gross pecuniary
gain the corporation derived from the crime, or twice the gross
pecuniary loss caused to the victims.
     The maximum penalty for an individual convicted under the
Sherman Act for a violation committed after November 16, 1990, is
a period of incarceration of three years and the greatest of a
fine of $350,000, twice the gross pecuniary gain the individual
derived from the crime, or twice the gross pecuniary loss caused
to the victims of the crime.
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95-517