On May 8, 2015, a jury in Puerto Rico acquitted Thomas Farmer
(Farmer), the former vice president of price and yield management
for Crowley Liner Services, Inc., of conspiring to suppress and
eliminate competition in violation of Sherman Act, Section 1. The
case is United States v. Thomas Farmer (3:13-cr-00162) in
the United States District Court for the District of Puerto
Rico.
In March 2013, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ)
indicted Farmer. The DOJ accused him of conspiring with competing
shipping companies, from mid-2005 through April 2008, to fix rates
and surcharges for freight transported between the United States
and Puerto Rico. The DOJ alleged that Farmer and competing shipping
executives participated in meetings, conversations, and
communications where they agreed to allocate customers; fix and
inflate prices; and rig bids submitted to government and commercial
customers. The type of freight in the alleged conspiracy included
heavy equipment,
