DOJ Gets Conviction in First Criminal Monopoly Case in Decades

  • Montana executive pleaded guilty in highway repairs case
  • Case reflects Biden administration’s broad antitrust agenda

The Department of Justice building in Washington, DC. 

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
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The Justice Department on Monday won its first criminal monopolization case in more than 40 years when a construction company executive pleaded guilty to monopolizing the market for highway crack-sealing services in Montana and Wyoming.

A Montana federal judge accepted the plea of Nathan Zito, president of of Z&Z Asphalt Inc., a paving and asphalt company in Billings, Montana, for attempted monopoly by allegedly offering a competitor a “strategic partnership” to split-up regional markets for highway repairs.