Former Contech exec imprisoned 18 months for bid-rigging scheme
By Aaron Nicodemus2022-09-12T16:39:00
A former executive for an Ohio-based civil engineering firm was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for his role in a long-running bid-rigging scheme in North Carolina.
Brent Brewbaker, formerly of Contech Engineered Solutions, was found guilty in February by a jury in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on six criminal counts including bid rigging, mail fraud, and wire fraud. On Sept. 8, Judge Louise Wood Flanagan sentenced him to report for an 18-month prison term, starting in 90 days.
According to an October 2020 complaint, Contech and Brewbaker conspired with another, unnamed company from 2009-18 to rig aluminum structure bids used in water drainage systems issued by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Three whistleblowers and cooperating witnesses—one formerly employed by Contech, two formerly employed by the unnamed firm—testified the two companies conspired together to manipulate numerous bids.