Michael S. Flynn was sentenced on Feb. 10 in Bridgeport to 15 months imprisonment and restitution of $1,062,155 for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud schemes targeting public and private entities in Connecticut.
This is the seventh sentencing arising out of the investigation into the insulation contracting industry.
According to a guilty plea entered on May 1, 2019, the defendant conspired with other insulation contractors to rig bids and engage in fraud on contracts for installing insulation around pipes and ducts on construction projects at universities, hospitals, and other public and private entities in Connecticut.
According to public court filings, the victims of the scheme included the University of Connecticut, the City of Hartford, PepsiCo. Inc., Stamford Hospital, and Yale University.
The conspiracy ran for nearly seven years, beginning as early as June 2011 and continuing until as late as March 2018. Six other individuals and companies have pled guilty to criminal conduct arising out of this investigation. Flynn was the last of the seven defendants sentenced.
“Bid rigging and fraud are serious crimes with serious consequences,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “This sentence reflects the division’s commitment to seeking appropriate punishment for criminal antitrust violations and ensuring that victims of antitrust crimes are made whole.”
“This defendant’s collusive conduct victimized hospitals, universities and businesses throughout Connecticut,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut. “This prison term and the penalties imposed on all individuals and companies involved in this scheme should deter others from engaging in such criminal, anti-competitive behavior. I thank the FBI, DCIS, and the Antitrust Division for their efforts in bringing these perpetrators to justice.”
“This fraud and deception of the public and commercial consumer has ended with this sentence,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jean Pierre Njock of the FBI New Haven Field Office. “We at the FBI along with our law enforcement partners will continue to pursue those that choose to engage in antitrust crimes.”
Flynn previously pleaded guilty to one count of bid rigging under Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Flynn was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $200.
This investigation was conducted by the Antitrust Division’s New York Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, the FBI’s New Haven Division, and the DCIS’s New Haven Resident Agency.
In November 2019, the Department of Justice created the PCSF, a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant, and program funding at all levels of government – federal, state and local. For more information, visit https://www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force.