Opinion ID: 771934
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Greek Case

Text: 9 Some of Appellants' arguments are based on what they refer to as the Greek case, a separate antitrust investigation that was taking place at the same time that Appellants were being prosecuted. When Hellenikon Air Force Base in Greece was closed in 1990, the government arranged for through transportation of the belongings of returning Hellenikon personnel, just as it did for personnel returning from the Philippines. The Department of Justice conducted an investigation of potential antitrust violations in Greece that paralleled those alleged in Appellants' case--agreements among carriers handling the foreign inland segment of through transportation. On February 9, 1993, Warren L. Dean, Jr., an attorney for one of the Greek inland carriers under investigation, met with counsel for the government and argued that Section 7 immunized his client's activities against antitrust liability. Dean provided the government with a written analysis to the same effect on February 17, 1993. 10 The Department of Justice was thus made aware of the relevance of the Shipping Act's antitrust exemptions four months before Tucor's plea hearing, but it did not disclose the potential applicability of those provisions to the district court or to Tucor. On December 1, 1993, the government decided not to prosecute the Greek carriers. Appellants infer from this that the government agreed with Dean's interpretation of the Shipping Act, recognized that the Greek carriers were immune, and thus also recognized that Appellants were immune. In Tucor I, the district court largely rejected these arguments, finding (1) that the government had not concluded at the time of Tucor's plea that Section 7(a)(4) immunized Tucor from prosecution, (2) that Tucor had failed to prove selective prosecution, but (3) that the government had probably violated its duty of candor to the court by failing to bring the immunity provisions to the court's attention. Tucor I, 35 F. Supp. 2d at 1188.