Former Shipping Executive Sentenced to 48 Months in Jail for His Role in Antitrust Conspiracy

The U.S. Department of Justice reports in its press release (quotation, not an independent finding): “WASHINGTON — A former high-level shipping executive was sentenced today to serve 48 months in jail and to pay a $20,000 criminal fine for his role in an antitrust conspiracy involving the transportation of goods to and from the continental United States and Puerto Rico by ocean vessel, the Department of Justice announced today. This is the longest jail sentence ever imposed for a single antitrust charge. Peter Baci of Jacksonville, Fla., pleaded guilty on Oct. 20, 2008, in the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville for his role in the conspiracy, which began at least as early as May 2002 and continued until as late as April 2008. Baci was charged with engaging in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the coastal water freight transportation services between the continental United States and Puerto Rico by agreeing to allocate customers, agreeing to rig bids submitted to government and commercial buyers, and agreeing to fix the prices of rates, surcharges, and other fees charged to customers. Related antitrust charges remain pending in the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville against three other shipping executives: R. Kevin Gill and Gregory Glova, of Charlotte, N.C. and Gabriel Serra, of San Juan, Puerto Rico. A related obstruction of justice charge is also pending against a fifth shipping executive, Alexander Chisholm, of Jacksonville. "Today’s sentencing should make clear that individuals who violate the antitrust laws will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Scott D. Hammond, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s An”