By Diane Bartz
WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The former president of Sea
Star Line LLC has been convicted of conspiring to fix the prices
of shipping freight between the continental United States and
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Sea Star had pleaded guilty in 2011, and was sentenced to
pay a $14.2 million fine.
Its former president, Frank Peake, was convicted in Puerto
Rico on Tuesday of conspiring with executives of other shipping
companies to rig bids for shipping contracts and to set rates,
the department said.
He was convicted after a two-week trial but was not
immediately sentenced.
The price fixing ran at least from late 2005 to April 2008
and potentially affected such varied products as perishable
foods and medicines and consumer goods.
"The coastal shipping price-fixing conspiracy affected the
price of nearly every product that was shipped to and from
Puerto Rico during the conspiracy," said Bill Baer, assistant
attorney general in charge of the Department of Justice's
Antitrust Division.
Sea Star and two other companies have been convicted of
price fixing while six people have pleaded guilty or have been
found guilty, the Justice Department said.
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