FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1995                             (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 

 THREE CALIFORNIA COMPANIES AND TWO EXECUTIVES CHARGED WITH PRICE
     FIXING ON ALUMINUM PARTS USED IN CONSTRUCTING AIRPLANES


WASHINGTON D.C. -- Government antitrust prosecutors today charged
three California companies and two executives with conspiring to
fix the price of some small aluminum parts that are used as
structural support in airplanes.
     In five criminal cases, filed in U.S. District Court in Los
Angeles, the Justice Department's Antitrust Division said that
the conspiracy took place in 1991 when worldwide sales of these
parts were approximately $150 million.  The companies involved in
the conspiracy accounted for approximately 75 percent of those
sales.  
     These aluminum parts, known as small press hard alloy
aluminum extrusions, are made by using a hydraulic press to push
a heated aluminum-based alloy through a die.  The companies
purchase aluminum extrusions from manufacturers, then store and
resell those extrusions to customers such as the major airline
manufacturers.
     Named as defendants are:
     -- TD Materials Inc., Los Angeles, California;
     -- Pioneer Aluminum Inc., Los Angeles, California;
     -- Tiernay Metals, Redondo Beach, California; 
     -- John P. Cassel, president of Pioneer Aluminum Inc.; and
     -- William A. Steinmetz, principal owner of Tiernay Metals.
     The defendants were accused of conspiring to quote only list
(book) price for the sale of small press hard alloy aluminum
extrusions to customers in violation of the Sherman Act from at
least January through September 1991.
     Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division, said the charges resulted from a grand
jury investigation in Los Angeles into suspected price fixing by
companies engaged in the sale of hard alloy aluminum extrusions
to airline manufacturers, their subcontractors and other
customers.  The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the
Antitrust Division's San Francisco Field Office with the
assistance of the Central District of California United States
Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los
Angeles Office.
     The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted of a Sherman
Act violation occurring after November 16, 1990, is a fine of $10
million, twice the pecuniary gain the corporation derived from
the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of
the crime, whichever is greater.  
     The maximum penalty for an individual convicted of a Sherman
Act violation occurring after November 16, 1990, is three years
in prison and a fine of $350,000, twice the pecuniary gain
derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the
victims of the crime, whichever is greater. 
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95-310