By admin 
A 56-year-old Chester man has pleaded guilty in federal court to a bid-rigging scheme in auctions for buying cattle to used in bovine artificial insemination.
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Herbert Lutz, who is from a multigenerational farming family, pleaded guilty Thursday, Aug. 6, in Columbus, Ohio, to conspiring to rig bids between 2018 and 2024, according to federal court records. He will be sentenced at a later date. The maximum penalty for this offense is 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
A press release from the U.S. Justice Department described the crime this way: “In advance of cattle auctions, Lutz and his co-conspirators agreed which company would win the bid. During the sales, the agreed-upon losing firm would either not bid or would submit an intentionally-losing bid before bowing out to permit the agreed-upon winner to prevail.
“Through the efforts of Lutz and his co-conspirators, Lutz’s employer was able to acquire cattle worth over $1.6 million through rigged sales,” the release said. Lutz’s employer was not identified.
Ongoing probe
Lutz is the first defendant to be charged and to plead guilty in an ongoing investigation into bid rigging in the bovine artificial insemination industry, the Justice Department said in its release. Bovine is a scientific word meaning having to do with cattle or related animals such as oxen.
Lutz was a manager who worked for a bovine artificial insemination firm engaged in the sale of bovine semen in the United States and elsewhere, according to an information (charging document). Lutz’s company, only described as “Company A,” bought cattle in the United States.
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Company A was in competition with another firm, identified in the information only as “Company B,” the information said.
Corporations and individuals other than Lutz were “co-conspirators” in his offense, but they are not defendants in Lutz’s case, the information said.
Lutz’s attorney, David DeVillers of Columbus, was asked for comment but has not yet replied.
Federal prosecutors on the case are Charles Fox, Barry Joyce and Le’Loni C. English. They are with Justice’s antitrust division.
Federal District Judge Edmund A. Sargus took Lutz’s guilty plea.
“Collusion in the agricultural industry ultimately leads to higher food prices for consumers,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel Glad of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Antitrust Division is dedicated to stamping out such collusion and prosecuting those responsible, thereby ensuring that our food supply remains affordable and plentiful for all Americans.”
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This is a breaking news story and may be updated.