Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DOJ NEWS—Storage-equipment company employee charged with rigging bids for Air Force projects, (May 21, 2026)

By Martin A. Steinberg, J.D.

The information alleges that the employee conspired to rig bids on maintenance, repair, and operations projects at Air Force facilities, including Moody Air Force Base and Nellis Air Force Base.

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division has alleged that a contractor conspired to rig bids and defraud the federal government in connection with maintenance, repair, and operations projects for Department of Defense facilities. According to the information, the defendant and co-conspirators coordinated what were supposedly competitive bids for projects at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, including healthcare facility projects for the 23rd Medical Group at Moody and a storage equipment project at Nellis. The government alleges that the conspirators exchanged pricing information, submitted collusive quotes through prime contractors in the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) MRO procurement program, concealed the bid rigging from DLA, and caused DLA to approve funding and payments based on the rigged bidding process. The information charges the defendant with conspiracy to restrain trade under Section 1 of the Sherman Act and conspiracy to defraud the United States (U.S. v. Srodes, No. 7:26-cr-00015-WLS-ALS (M.D. Ga. May 15, 2026)).

Conspiracy to restrain trade. DLA used a competitive bidding process under its MRO program to obtain fair and reasonable pricing from suppliers. Prime contractors were required to seek quotes from independently competing suppliers before submitting pricing to DLA. The information identifies two MRO prime contractors and several distributor companies that supply shelving, storage equipment, and related installation services to Defense Department customers.

The alleged conduct centered on four Moody Air Force Base healthcare facility projects—the Medical Logistics Warehouse Project, Pharmacy Modernization and Renovation Project, Veterinary Clinic Project, and Dental Lab Clinic Project—and at least one Nellis Air Force Base project involving pallet racks and portable bulk storage sleds. According to the government, the defendant, on behalf of Company B, and co-conspirators acting on behalf of Companies A and C, submitted rigged bids for those projects.

The information alleges that the defendant participated in a bid-rigging scheme involving Defense Logistics Agency maintenance, repair, and operations procurements for Department of Defense facilities. The information charges Count One as a Sherman Act Section 1 conspiracy to restrain trade, alleging that from at least June 2022 through at least April 2023, the defendant and co-conspirators agreed to suppress competition by rigging bids for contracts at Air Force facilities, including Moody Air Force Base in Georgia and Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

The government alleges that the conspirators communicated with one another about bid prices, agreed to rig bids on the Moody and Nellis projects, submitted or caused collusive bids to be submitted to the MRO prime contractors, and concealed the bid rigging from DLA, including by disguising that a competitor had prepared Company B’s pricing.

Conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Count Two charges the defendant with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. under 18 U.S.C. § 371. The information alleges that, from at least June 2022 through at least April 2023, the defendant and co-conspirators conspired to impair, obstruct, and defeat the Defense Logistics Agency’s lawful procurement function by corrupting its competitive bidding process for Department of Defense maintenance, repair, and operations purchases. According to the government, the conspirators agreed to rig bids, prepared and submitted collusive quotes to two MRO prime contractors, and made false representations about the relationship between Companies A and B to conceal the scheme from DLA.

The overt act allegations describe how the scheme allegedly operated on projects at Moody Air Force Base. For the Medical Logistics Warehouse, Pharmacy Modernization and Renovation, Veterinary Clinic, and Dental Lab Clinic projects, Employee A allegedly provided the defendant or received from him quote sheets and pricing information, then submitted Company A bids that were designed to appear competitive but were in fact coordinated with the defendant’s Company B bids. The information quotes communications in which Employee A allegedly told the defendant to populate or adjust pricing figures, use the provided price numbers, and submit final quote documents. The government alleges that the collusive bids caused DLA to approve approximately $1.6 million in funding to Prime Contractor 1, which then paid approximately $1.4 million to Company A.

The information also details alleged overt acts for an Air Force Base Nellis project involving pallet racks and portable storage sleds. The defendant allegedly provided Employee C at Company C and Employee A at Company A with pricing information after submitting Company B’s quote to Prime Contractor 2, with the understanding that both would submit higher “competitive” bids. The information alleges that Company B bid $205,820, Company A bid $223,052, and Company C bid $214,163, and that the collusive bids caused DLA to approve funding, transmit payment to Prime Contractor 2, and ultimately pay approximately $205,820 to Company B.

Guilty plea in related case. In a separate suit filed by the Justice Department, Eric J. Caddy, the owner of a Texas storage company, pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids and defraud the federal government in connection with the sale of shelving and storage products for healthcare-related Air Force projects at Moody Air Force Base. The government alleged that Caddy submitted collusive bids for four 23rd Medical Group projects after receiving pricing instructions from a co-conspirator and helped conceal the scheme by rewriting bid forms in his own handwriting. The plea is part of an ongoing procurement-collusion investigation that also appears to include the newly filed criminal information against Srodes.

The Case is No. 7:26-cr-00015-WLS-ALS.

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