A metal sling manufacturing company has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rig bids on U.S. Navy contracts, the federal officials said.

Authorities said Certified Slings Inc. rigged bids for manufacturing metal sling hoist assemblies, which are used to transport items such as bombs and other munitions.

The central Florida-based company also agreed to pay a $150,000 fine, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday. The plea was made in the U.S. District Court in Islip, N.Y.

Certified Slings was part of a conspiracy to rig bids from December 2002 to October 2003, where "conspirators discussed and agreed among themselves which of them would win contracts from the U.S. Navy," the statement said.

A telephone message and e-mail left for the company by The Associated Press were not immediately returned Thursday night.

Four others have also been charged as a result of the investigation.

Pennsylvania executives Thomas Cunningham and Richard Barko pleaded guilty to rigging bids on U.S. Navy contracts in February and are currently awaiting sentencing.

In July, the former sales director of a New York-based company, Robert Fischetti, pleaded guilty to two counts of participating in separate conspiracies to rig bids on military equipment. Roger Jacobi, the president of another New York-based company was charged with conspiring to rig bids on DOD contracts in September.