Summary

On April 22, Michael Maples, co-owner of Vinton Construction Co. (Vinton) of Manitowac, Wisconsin was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Green Bay, Wisconsin to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay $200,000 in fines and restitution on bid-rigging charges. On April 1, 2005, the company and its other owner, James Maples were ordered to pay a combined $1.8 million in fines and restitution on charges of rigging $100 million in highway construction contracts. Another firm, Streu Construction Co. (Streu) of Two Rivers, WI and its owners were sentenced in January 2005 to a combined $1.1 million, with its executives sentenced to 17 months in prison stemming from their guilty pleas to bid-rigging charges. A suspension applicable to all Federal-aid construction projects is currently in effect for Vinton (as well as James and Michael Maples) and Streu principals, Ernest and John Streu. This investigation, one of the largest DOT fraud cases in Wisconsin, was conducted jointly with the FBI and Department of Justice, with assistance from FHWA and the Wisconsin DOT.