Terreton man sentenced for rigging contract prices for wildfire-fighting equipment
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BOISE — The former owner of multiple contractor companies that provided fuel truck services to the U.S. Forest Service’s wildfire fighters was sentenced to prison on Thursday.
Ike Tomlinson, 61 of Terreton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford to one year and one day in prison.
He will be required to pay a fine of $20,200 and be on a one-year probationary period after his release.
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According to court documents, Brailsford recommended Tomlinson be housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Oregon.
Tomlinson and his co-conspirator, Kris Bird, were indicted by a grand jury in December 2023 on one count of felony conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of felony wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy in restraint of trade: bid rigging and territorial allocation.
As part of a plea agreement, Tomlinson pleaded guilty in May 2024 to conspiring to monopolize, rigging bids, and allocating territories in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
In exchange, prosecutors dismissed the rest of his charges.
Bird pleaded guilty to all charges in March “with no assurances from the government as to the sentence prosecutors will recommend to the judge,” according to a news release from the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
His sentencing is scheduled for June 26.
Background
Tomlinson and Bird own competing companies, and allegedly conspired to “rig bids and allocate territories,” violating the Sherman Act.
The Federal Trade Commission says the Sherman Act of 1890 outlaws “every contract, combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade,” and any “monopolization, attempted monopolization, or conspiracy or combination to monopolize.”
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According to the indictment, to secure the best deal for taxpayers and promote free and fair competition, the U.S. Forest Service advertises and runs a bidding process to award certain firefighting-related contracts to qualified small businesses.
These vendors supply fuel trucks, water trucks, communications trailers, and more.
Tomlinson and Bird reportedly worked together to influence the contracts for forest firefighting services to make the most money.
The indictment alleges that from at least February 2014 to about March 2023, Tomlinson and Bird coordinated their bids to “squeeze” and “drown” competitors, accepted payment for fuel trucks at collusive and noncompetitive daily rates, and tried to conceal their actions.