An Idaho man has pleaded guilty to bid rigging in a scheme involving colluding with a competing company to eliminate competition in fuel truck services for wildfire response.
Ike Tomlinson has pleaded guilty to one count of bid rigging and one count of monopolizing trade for his role in rigging bids for fuel truck contracts with the U.S. Forest Service. Tomlinson conspired with Kris Bird, another fuel truck provider, to squeeze out other companies bidding on contracts in the Great Basin region.
“Agencies like the U.S. Forest Service rely on a fair bidding process to secure the best deal at the best price for taxpayers,” U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit for the District of Idaho said in a statement. “When contractors collude rather than compete, they wrong the public and honest competitors who submitted bids fair and square.”
Fuel truck bidding process
The U.S. Forest Service provides fuel trucks to wildfire fighters with private sector contractors through a bidding process.
Awarded once a year, bidding deadlines for fuel truck contracts are typically towards the end of the first quarter each year in the Great Basin region. There are three elements to the bids: truck type (i.e. fuel capacity), intended dispatch center and daily rate.
Vendors are placed on a dispatch priority list, which is sorted by daily price with the lowest rate at the top. A position at the top of the list means more opportunities available.
Companies bidding on fuel truck services must submit a certificate of independent price determination. By signing the certificate, bidders promise that price information will not be shared with any other company bidding on the same contract. However, that is exactly what Tomlinson and Bird did.
Bid-rigging scheme
The relationship between the two men dates back to at least 2014, when Tomlinson took over a competing business.
In 2013, Bird owned two of three fuel trucks operated by a company owned by someone else. Heading into the 2014 bidding season, Bird went into business for himself, offering to buy the third truck from the company. That offer was declined, and the owner of the company invested in a second fuel truck. However, he could not afford maintenance on two trucks by being third on the dispatch list, behind Bird and Tomlinson’s companies.
Tomlinson bought the competing company in June 2014. According to court documents, he had a one-hour phone conversation with Bird immediately before making the offer.
From 2015 to 2023, Tomlinson and Bird communicated in the weeks leading up to the fuel truck bidding deadline. Specifically, the two men discussed how much their daily rates would be on the bid and for what type of truck. The company owners would make sure their bids were within $10 of each other to ensure other companies would not be placed between them on the lists where they acquired the first and second top positions.
In February 2020, a new, competing company entered the arena. Tomlinson offered the company owner a chance to collude with him and Bird in their bid-rigging scheme. The company owner declined that offer.
Later that year, Tomlinson sold his two companies offering fuel truck services to two individuals. However, he continued the bid-rigging scheme with Bird and the new company owners. In March 2023, Tomlinson, Bird and one of the new owners discussed squeezing out the company that Tomlinson tried to bring in in February 2020. Essentially, Tomlinson and Bird coordinated bids to “squeeze,” “drown,” “punch,” “low-ball” and de-prioritize two competing companies.
Busted
In 2023, a federal court authorized wiretaps of Tomlinson’s cellphone, which revealed conversations detailing that year’s bid-rigging scheme.
Armed with phone conservations and a year’s worth of text messages on the scheme, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed an indictment against Tomlinson and Bird last December. The indictment included six counts related to wire fraud and one count related to bid rigging.
Tomlinson pleaded guilty in April to one count of bid rigging and one count of monopolizing trade. As part of the plea agreement, no criminal charges will be pursued against the two companies he owned or its current owners. Sentencing is scheduled for August.
Bird has not reached a plea agreement. A trial is set for September. LL
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