Former Lawson Products salespeople pleaded guilty at the end of last week to giving kickbacks to government employees, according to the Chicago Daily Herald. The case involved seven employees of Lawson or its subsidiary Drummond American Corp. and some of the government employees who bought from them.
 
As reported previously at mdm.com, sales agents were indicted on federal fraud charges, allegedly paying kickbacks totaling $140,000 to employees of some of their customers, including suburban municipalities, school districts, a non-profit organization and private businesses. They disguised the kickbacks as purchasing incentives. In return, the sales agents allegedly obtained higher sales commissions based on greater volume and prices.
 
Government employees are prohibited from accepting outside compensation.
 
Lawson, publicly traded, and its subsidiaries have about $400 million in annual sales of products as hardware, tools and chemicals.
 
According to the Chicago report, Lawson fired several employees in response to the federal investigation, instituted an ethics program and cooperated with federal authorities.