Texas business owner pleads guilty in Air Force bid-rigging case

The owner of a Texas storage sales company has pleaded guilty to rigging bids and defrauding the federal government in connection with more than $1.6 million in shelving and storage contracts for Air Force healthcare facilities in Georgia, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Eric J. Caddy, 62, of Huntington, Texas, pleaded guilty to two felony counts, according to the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

Prosecutors said the scheme involved bids tied to multiple healthcare-related projects at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia, including the Medical Logistics Warehouse Project, the Pharmacy Modernization and Renovation Project, the Veterinary Clinic Project and the Dental Lab Clinic Project.

According to court filings and the plea agreement, Caddy and his co-conspirators submitted collusive bids on the projects through a prime vendor for the federal government.

Prosecutors said one co-conspirator directed Caddy to submit intentionally higher prices and even provided the specific pricing to use in the bids.

The Justice Department said Caddy and others also tried to conceal the bid rigging by having him rewrite some bid forms in his own handwriting before they were transmitted.

The Justice Department said the guilty plea is the first in an ongoing investigation into bid rigging and fraud affecting U.S. military facilities in the United States.

Caddy is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25. Prosecutors said the Sherman Act count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine, while the conspiracy to defraud the United States count carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, though the final sentence will be determined by a federal judge.