MISSISSIPPI — A man who victimized some 100 schools in Mississippi and other places pleaded guilty Monday to federal “bid-rigging” and wire fraud conspiracies related to sports equipment.
Charles Ferrell Trimm once worked in sales for a company that manufactured and distributed sports equipment, including football helmets.
Trimm pleaded guilty to rigging bids in violation of the 1890 Sherman Act, which was the first antitrust law passed by Congress. Its purpose is to preserve fair competition in the United States.
“At least 100 schools throughout Mississippi and elsewhere were victims of these conspiracies,” a DOJ news release states.
Trimm “conspired” with two sports equipment distributors, which remain unnamed, to rig bids between 2020 and 2023. They forged a person’s signature as part of the scheme and committed wire fraud through the submission of “false bids,” according to federal authorities.
Trimm and the two distributors “agreed to submit complementary bids to schools located in Mississippi and elsewhere in order to obtain procurements for school sports equipment and related services,” the release adds. These “criminal schemes” hurt public schools and bypassed the normal bidding process in which companies are supposed to legally vie for taxpayer-funded contracts, according to federal prosecutors.
The conspiratorial acts gave the “false appearance of competition for precious taxpayer dollars,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
Added U.S. Attorney Todd Gee for the Southern District of Mississippi: “The conspirators took advantage of schools in Mississippi by rigging bids to affect the prices schools paid for sports equipment,”
Ultimately, these crimes harmed Mississippi children by “fraudulently” depriving “public schools of valuable resources to support students,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Jackson Field Office.
Trimm faces up to a decade in prison and a $1 million fine if formally convicted for violating the Sherman Act and 20 years in prison for the wire fraud charge. A U.S. District Court judge will determine any sentencing Trimm may get.
