KENTUCKY
Two Kentucky real estate professionals plead guilty Wednesday for their roles in a conspiracy to rig bids at an estate auction for farmland and timber rights, officials stated.
Barry Dyer and Mackie Shelton plead guilty to conspiring with others to rig bids at a 2018 auction for hundreds of acres of farmland and a tract of timber rights.
According to authorities, Dyer and Shelton demanded and accepted a $40,000 payoff from competing auction participants to stop bidding, artificially suppressing the sales price of the farmland.
“American farmers are part of the backbone of our country’s economy, and they deserve to run their businesses in a fair market, untainted by corruption,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.
Dyer and Shelton were charged with a single-count violation of the Sherman Act. A criminal violation of the Sherman Act carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.