In United States v. B&H Maintenance, Mark Johnson defended a New Mexico natural gas pipeline contractor accused by federal authorities of engaging in a bid-rigging scheme in the Four Corners area. Johnson’s client, J.P. Smith, was the main prosecution target in the 2006 case. The company he worked for, B&H Maintenance, was also indicted along with Mr. Smith’s assistant.
Johnson worked in concert with two prominent Colorado defense lawyers, Pat Burke and Pamela Mackey, who represented the co-defendants at trial. The case took two-and-one-half years to resolve, with the defendants asserting their innocence at every juncture. A federal jury acquitted all the defendants following a two-week jury trial in U.S. District Court in Denver. The case attracted regional news coverage because of its impact on the oil and gas industry. The outcome was reported in The Rocky Mountain News on June 19, 2008 in an article entitled, “Energy firm, two execs not guilty of bid rigging.”
An Albuquerque Journal article on the trial, “N.M. Pipeline Firm Acquitted of Bid Rigging” highlighted the more than two-year legal battle waged by the defense against the federal government that culminated with the not-guilty verdicts.