- Trinity Industries (NYSE:TRN) -1.4% AH after a U.S. district judge tells it to pay $663M for defrauding the U.S. government in the case of the its highway guardrail safety system tied to at least nine deaths.
- The penalty is $138M more than imposed last year in a federal trial in which jurors found TRN cheated the government by selling its ET-Plus guardrail system without disclosing changes made in 2005.
- The ruling follows the unsuccessful end of settlement talks ordered after the October verdict; the judge was considering a final judgment in the $525M-$709M range.