Six months after a federal jury in Savannah, Ga., convicted two ready-mix concrete supply company managers of a years-long illegal bid-rigging and price-fixing scheme, the examination of the scheme and those responsible now shifts to another federal courtroom, in Charleston, S.C. That's where contractors who bought the concrete are pressing onward with their now-eight-year-old class-action lawsuit to recover millions of dollars in alleged overcharges.

The contractors asked a federal judge last month to allow them to take depositions from the two ready mix supply company managers, brothers who are now in prison. A recording device that looked like an electronic fob that opens car doors was one of several types of devices that provided evidence against them.

The civil lawsuit, first filed in 2017, was held up until the four-day trial of criminal antitrust and market manipulation charges against brothers Gregory and David Melton was completed last summer. Gregory Melton was the division manager of ready-mix sales for ARGOS Ready Mix and based in Pooler, Ga. His brother was general manager for Elite Concrete in Walthourville, Ga. In 2021 ARGOS agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement—not a guilty plea, but under which it would pay the Dept. of Justice a $20 million criminal fine.

The Meltons pleaded not guilty to the charges against them personally and went to trial. A federal judge sentenced them to prison in October. Three other individuals charged had entered guilty pleas as part of agreements with prosecutors.

What isn't clear yet is how crucial evidence and testimony in the criminal case—which included over 1,000 secret recordings from a six-year period made by a sales manager who worked for Gregory Melton—will be used in the civil lawsuit.

The companies involved served territories that included Savannah, Jonesboro and Statesboro in Georgia, and in the Hilton Head, S.C., area.

The sales manager, Christopher Young, is now running his own ready-mix supply company. But he had worked for many years as a sales manager for Lafarge, the materials giant, until his unit was sold to ARGOS and he continued in the same role reporting to Gregory Melton. Young, who had majored in criminal justice as a college student, became the main witness against the Meltons during last summer's trial in Savannah. 

Young said that he became worried about the routine conversations in the company's offices. Prosecutors say the illegal activity encompassed fuel and environmental surcharges and price-increase letters sent out by several competitors with the same prices at the same time. One of the conspirators served as a go-between to communicate to other companies and conceal cooperation, Young and prosecutors alleged. 

As that went on, Young testified, he felt he needed to protect himself and his family in case he was to be implicated in the illegal market manipulations. He initially contacted the anti-trust unit at the U.S. Dept. of Justice in 2011.

FBI investigators provided Young with a recording device that resembled an automobile's electric key fob that could easily be handled and wouldn't draw suspicion. Later he added other recorders purchased at Best Buy, and a special phone.

Sometimes, Young testified, he accidentally turned a recorder on and unknowingly recorded pieces of his ordinary family life.

But in several instances shown to the Savannah jury, discussions did involve pricing for different projects.

In one conversation in February 2012, Young switched on his recording device while talking to James Pedrick, a cement and additives salesman for ARGOS, who prosecutors accused of serving as a go-between for sharing sensitive information. Young asked Pedrick about the price per cubic yard of concrete on a project.

Phone Call Sets Ready-Mix Price Range

Young asked whether "David is going up?" with his price. After Pedrick replied that he is, Young continued: "Cause right now he is freaking killing us." Pedrick then says on the recording that David Melton called him while he was at a sales meeting and wanted to know what his brother was charging for the project being discussed. David Melton "called Greg and Greg said somewhere between 85 and 88...is where to go. Or where we're gonna go."

Basically, Young explained, the goal in his office and among the conspirators was to avoid leaving any money on the table as they submitted prices. A common saying around the office in Pooler, Ga., Young claimed, was that "'you can make more money by pricing up.'"

Federal prosecutors didn't immediately take up Young's cause and let the matter go for several years.  . 

 Young, however, continued to record work conversations and seek the government's support as a whistleblower. "I needed to protect myself," he said at the Meltons' trial. "I had a two-year-old with special needs. I had a three-year old. And I dang sure wasn't going to do something that would put my family in jeopardy."

The Meltons' attorneys portrayed Young as a disgruntled employee who believed a successful whistleblowers' lawsuit could bring him a windfall. "You hoped to make a lot of money from that," one of the Meltons' attorneys told Young while he testified. 

Still, nothing came of Young's efforts. But in 2020 federal prosecutors finally acted on the issues.

In 2020 federal prosecutors filed a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit in federal court in South Carolina with Young as the complainant against ARGOS, the Meltons and numerous concrete supply companies and individuals who allegedly conspired to fix prices. Under federal law if the government agrees to sue on the whistleblower's behalf, the plaintiff may be entitled to 10% to 30% of any illegally gained funds that are recovered, depending on the case.

The lawsuit outlined in detail how the alleged conspirators cooperated on various public and private projects to set prices. It contains much more detail than the criminal case indictment. But the Dept. of Justice didn't pursue that lawsuit on Young's behalf, and the prosecutors and defendants agreed to settle the matter and pay their own costs. A judge dismissed the case in 2023.

The same year as the whistleblower lawsuit was filed, 2020, a federal grand jury in Savannah brought criminal charges of illegal price-fixing. The prosecutors accused the Meltons and Pedrick and a ready-mix supply company, Evans Concrete, of violating federal anti-trust law from 2010 to 2016. Pedrick and Evans Concrete each pleaded guilty to a single count of illegal price manipulation as part of agreements with prosecutors.

The criminal trial of the Meltons finally got underway in July. Neither brother took the witness stand and testified in his own defense. In addition to attacking Young's motives, the Meltons' attorneys implied that his recordings were taken out of context and the pricing information was not secret. Young created a narrative about a price-fixing conspiracy, the attorneys argued, that never really existed.

David Melton received a sentence of 26 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine. Gregory Melton was sentenced to 41 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $50,000 fine. Both  brothers started serving their sentences December 31 at federal prisons, David in Montgomery, Ala., and Gregory in Lexington, Ky.

The lead plaintiffs in the class action civil lawsuit consist of Pro Slab Inc., Bremer Construction Management and Forrest Concrete. In asking to now depose the Meltons, the plaintiffs' attorneys argued in a January's motion that "There is no basis ... for limiting the requested discovery."

This story was updated February 12 to clarify the timing of the whistleblower lawsuit and the criminal indictment.