WASHINGTON -- A federal grand jury in Oklahoma returned a one-count indictment today charging Kwik-Chek Food Stores Inc., a Texas-based convenience store company, and one of its agents, Jarrod "Judd" Thomas, with conspiring to fix the price of retail gasoline and diesel fuel sold in Antlers, Okla.
The indictment, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Muskogee, Okla., charges that Thomas, acting on behalf of Kwik-Chek, conspired to fix the prices of retail gasoline and diesel with competing retailers in Antlers. Kwik-Chek, based in Bonham, Texas, distributes and sells gasoline and [image-nocss] diesel products at approximately 30 c-stores located in Oklahoma and Texas, including two stores in Antlers. The indictment further charges that the conspiracy began at least as early as 2002 and continued until at least June 2007.
The indictment charges that during the course of the conspiracy, Thomas and co-conspirators discussed and agreed to raise, fix and maintain the prices for gasoline and diesel products sold to customers in Antlers.
Kwik-Chek and Thomas are charged with conspiring to fix prices of retail gasoline and diesel fuel in violation of Section One of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1 million for individuals, and $100 million for corporations. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.
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