A former executive of a steel distributor in San Juan, Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with competitors to fix prices for sales of reinforcing bar, or rebar.
According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in San Juan, Juan Carlos Aponte Tolentino (Aponte), of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, was Interim President of a steel distributor in Puerto Rico. The company was one of the leading wholesale distributors of rebar in Puerto Rico. Rebar is commonly required for residential and commercial construction projects on the island, and nearly all rebar distributed in Puerto Rico is imported from other countries or the continental U.S. Collectively, Aponte’s company and two other competitors controlled approximately 70% of the wholesale rebar market in the Commonwealth.
Between 2015 and 2022, including the period of reconstruction following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017, Aponte conspired with competing companies and individuals to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing prices for steel products, including rebar, which were distributed to hardware stores, building contractors and other businesses and individuals in Puerto Rico, resulting in substantial profits to the conspirators.
Among other communications, Aponte and his competitors exchanged WhatsApp chat messages in which they agreed on specific rebar prices, including price increases. For example, in December 2020 an executive at a competing company sent Aponte a chat message with the price of Turkish rebar, and Aponte responded: “The position is the following: Platform $33.95, 10 bundles $34.50, Fewer than 10 bundles: $34.95” before asking: “The question is are we on the same page?” The competing executive responded: “Yes, that is what I am doing.”
In the plea agreement filed today, Aponte admitted that more than $100 million in sales by his company were affected by the conspiracy.
“In pleading guilty, this defendant admitted to fixing prices — for nearly a decade — on rebar, an essential part of the supply chain for the reconstruction of Puerto Rico following the 2017 hurricanes,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Manish Kumar of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “This guilty plea demonstrates the Antitrust Division’s continued commitment to holding accountable individuals who collude to raise construction prices and harm consumers and businesses in Puerto Rico. We and our law enforcement partners will continue to prosecute the people responsible for this type of anticompetitive criminal conduct.”
Violating the Sherman Act is a felony. The maximum penalty for individuals convicted of violating this federal criminal antitrust statute is 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. The maximum penalty for corporations is a $100 million criminal fine. The fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by victims if either amount exceeds these statutory limits.
The court set Aponte’s sentencing hearing for Nov. 8. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal Section investigated this case with assistance from FBI's San Juan Field Office.
Trial Attorneys April Ayers-Perez, Alison Friberg and Taylor Bernhardt from Washington Criminal Section along with Senior Litigation Counsel John Davis from Antitrust Division’s Litigation Program are prosecuting this case.
Anyone with information related to this investigation should contact Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center at 888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations.