CT Contractor Sentenced In Bid-Rigging Case Involving UConn, Yale

CONNECTICUT — Ridgefield contractor Michael S. Flynn has been sentenced to more than a year in prison and is facing hefty restitution in a federal bid-rigging case involving major colleges, the capital city, a hospital and a large corporation, prosecutors said.

Flynn on Feb. 10 was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay back $1,062,155 for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud schemes targeting "public and private entities" in Connecticut, prosecutors said. It marked the seventh sentencing arising out of the investigation into the insulation contracting industry.

According to a guilty plea entered on May 1, 2019, Flynn conspired with other insulation contractors to rig bids and to "engage in fraud" on contracts for installing insulation around pipes and ducts on construction projects at several Connecticut locations, including the University of Connecticut, the city of Hartford, PepsiCo. Inc., Stamford Hospital and Yale University. The "conspiracy: ran for nearly seven years, beginning as early as June 2011 and continuing until as late as March 2018, persecutors said.

The six other individuals and companies also entered guilty pleas to criminal conduct arising out of this investigation. Flynn was the last of the seven defendants sentenced, prosecutors said.

"Bid-rigging and fraud are serious crimes with serious consequences," said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. "This sentence reflects the division’s commitment to seeking appropriate punishment for criminal antitrust violations and ensuring that victims of antitrust crimes are made whole."

Added Connecticut U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut, "This defendant's collusive conduct victimized hospitals, universities and businesses throughout Connecticut. This prison term and the penalties imposed on all individuals and companies involved in this scheme should deter others from engaging in such criminal, anti-competitive behavior. I thank the FBI, DCIS, and the Antitrust Division for their efforts in bringing these perpetrators to justice."

Flynn previously pleaded guilty to one count of bid rigging under Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Flynn was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $200.