Does Prison Work for Cartelists?—The View from behind Bars

• Date: 01 June 2011
• Author: Bryan Allison,Michael O'Kane
• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X1105600210
• Published date: 01 June 2011
• Subject Matter: Article

Does prison work for cartelists?—

The view from behind bars

ANINTERVIEW OF BRYAN ALLISON*

BY MICHAEL O’KANE**

On May 2, 2007, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ)

arrested eight foreign executives in Houston, Texas, in relation to

alleged cartel conduct in the market for supply of flexible marine

hoses. On December 3, 2007, the DOJ filed a one-count felony charge

that from early 1999 to May 2007, the defendants participated in a

conspiracy, the primary purpose of which was to suppress and elimi-

nate competition by rigging bids, fixing prices and allocating market

shares for sales of marine hoses1in the United States.2In furtherance

of the conspiracy, it was alleged that the defendants attended meet-

ings and engaged in discussions with executives from other marine

hose manufacturers. On conviction for a violation of section 1 of the

Sherman Act of 1890,3each of the defendants could have faced a max-

THE ANTITRUST BULLETIN:Vol. 56, No. 2/Summer 2011 :483

* B.A., Kent University 1976.

** Head of Business Crime Practice, Peters & Peters, Member of the Law

Society of England & Wales, LLB (Hons) Manchester Metropolitan University

1992.

1Marine hose is a flexible rubber hose used to transfer oil between

tankers and storage facilities and/or buoys.

2Criminal Information at 1, United States v. Allison, No. H 07-487 (S.D.

Tex. July 3, 2008).

315 U.S.C. § 1 (2010).

© 2011 by Federal Legal Publications, Inc.

imum of ten years imprisonment.4Meanwhile, in the United King-

dom, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) launched a simultaneous crimi-

nal investigation into suspected cartel conduct in relation to that

country’s market for marine hoses.5

The U.K. executives, Bryan Allison, David Brammer, and Peter

Whittle, admitted guilt in the United States and agreed to jail sen-

tences under a plea bargain. However, the DOJ allowed them to

return to the United Kingdom on condition that they plead guilty to

the U.K. cartel offense and that they return to the United States if

their U.K. sentences were shorter than those agreed to under the plea

agreement.6The deal was unprecedented in international criminal

law enforcement and was achieved through the defendants’ full

cooperation with the U.S. and U.K. authorities.7

They were returned to the United Kingdom in handcuffs by the

U.S. Marshals Service on December 17, 2007. Upon their arrival at

Heathrow, they were arrested and charged with the U.K. cartel

offense. On Wednesday, June 11, 2008, the three executives were sen-

tenced to serve terms of imprisonment of between thirty months and

three years for their roles in organizing the cartel. Bryan Allison

received a term of three years’ imprisonment, subsequently reduced

on appeal to the two years set out in his plea agreement. Through this

agreement, not only was the OFT able to initiate the first criminal

prosecution under the Enterprise Act 2002 in the United Kingdom,

but the DOJ also obtained guilty pleas and agreed sentences that will

carry a powerful deterrent message in the United Kingdom, the

United States, and elsewhere.

484 :THE ANTITRUST BULLETIN:Vol. 56, No. 2/Summer 2011

4In 2004, the statute was amended to increase the maximum term of

incarceration from three to ten years imprisonment. See 15 U.S.C. § 1 (2010).

5Investigations that focused only on corporations and did not involve

individuals were also launched in Australia, Korea, and Japan.

6Plea Agreement at 14, United States v. Allison, No. H 07-487 (2007).

7Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Three United Kingdom Nationals

Plead Guilty to Participating in Bid-Rigging Conspiracy in the Marine Hose

Industry (Dec. 12, 2007), available at http://www.justice.gov/atr/public

/press_releases/2007/228561.htm; Press Release, U.K. Office of Fair Trading,

Three Imprisoned in First OFT Criminal Prosecution for Bid Rigging (June 11,

2008), available at http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2008/72-08.