Feds indict ex-HISD official, contractor
Former chief operating officer denies charges in alleged bribery scheme costing district millions
A former top Houston ISD official and vendor were indicted Thursday in connection with an alleged bribery scheme over the last decade that federal prosecutors estimate cost the district millions of dollars and resulted in plea agreements with at least five other former district officials, including a former president of the district’s Board of Education.
Federal authorities arrested former Chief Operating Officer Brian Busby, 43, and contract vendor Anthony Hutchison, 60, both of Houston, on Thursday, hours before their initial court appearance. Both men pleaded not guilty to all counts and were expected to be released under conditions that include no contact with current and former HISD employees with the exception of Busby’s wife, who prosecutors said has filed for divorce.
Prosecutors accused Busby of helping award HISD construction and grounds maintenance contracts to Hutchison in return for cash bribes and hundreds of thousands of dollars in home remodeling, according to a 26-count indictment unsealed Thursday.
“This investigation and resulting indictments reflect my office’s commitment to rooting out public corruption,” acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery said in a statement. “We will not stand idly by when there are people in positions of trust who are suspected of such wrongdoing.”
Dick DeGuerin, Busby’s lawyer, denied any wrongdoing by his client.
“For most of his adult life, Brian Busby has been a loyal employee of HISD, rising from the lowest employment to chief operating officer,” DeGuerin said. “He has never taken a penny from any contractors or any illegal money — ever. I am sure that a fair jury will find him innocent.”
The indictments and plea agreements stem from a corruption probe that began in February 2020 when authorities raided HISD’s headquarters and Busby’s Cypress-area home. They arrived as the district continues to fight an attempt by the state to takeover
due to a chronically low-performing school, the continued presence of a state-appointed conservator and a state probe that found misconduct among board members.
Investigators found more than $186,000 in cash during the searches of Busby and Hutchison’s homes in 2020, federal prosecutors said Thursday, and have estimated about $7 million in false billing and $2.6 million in cash deposits connected to the scheme. The two men were scheduled to have a hearing Monday in federal court in a civil forfeiture case connected to the cash.
Rhonda Skillern-Jones, who served two terms as HISD trustee between 2012 and 2019, and as board president in 2015 and 2018, was among the former officials charged in connection with the alleged bribery scheme and pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. She currently serves as a Houston Community College Trustee. It was not clear Thursday whether she would have to resign or be fired. A spokesman for the college did not respond to a request for comment.
She also worked for Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis’ community and government affairs team until Thursday.
“The news today came as a shock to us, and we never had any indication of such inexcusable wrongdoing during her time at Precinct One,” Ellis’ office said in a statement. “Upon learning of this news today, her employment was immediately ended.”
Attempts by the Chronicle to contact Skillern-Jones, as well as the other former officials who entered plea agreements, were unsuccessful Thursday.
Those other former employees were identified by prosecutors as Derrick Sanders, 50, of Missouri City, officer of construction services; Alfred Hoskins, 58, of Missouri City, general manager of facilities, maintenance and operations; Gerron Hall, 47, of Missouri City, area manager for maintenance; and Luis Tovar, 39, of Huffman, area manager for maintenance.
Sanders had joined Aldine ISD in September 2020 and voluntarily resigned Oct. 22, school officials there said.
Saying he was “extremely outraged,” HISD Superintendent Millard House II, who began leading the largest public school district in Texas in July, told the Chronicle that he had ordered a review of the internal team and systems for contracting and vendors, as well as an external review of the district’s procurement procedures before he was even made aware of the charges. He said he had made changes “to make sure everyone on my staff knows it is a new day inside HISD.
“I am outraged. Outraged that we’re talking about this. Outraged how adults who are supposed to be working for the public trust may have taken money from children,” House said. “In my 26 years as an educator — in Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — I have never seen such a failure. As a parent, as a teacher, as a taxpayer, I promise you — HISD will do everything in its power to never be vulnerable to this kind of alleged misconduct again.”
He added: “I will not be deterred by 10 years of corruption, waste and fraud that came before me. My team did not create this problem, but we will solve it. Permanently.”
Court documents made public Thursday offered the most comprehensive outline to date of the alleged corruption.
Starting in 2011 and stretching to 2020, according to court documents, Hutchison overbilled the district and inflated bills, paying Busby a portion of the profits in cash and free home remodeling. Federal authorities also accused him of obtaining purchase orders for construction, repair, landscaping and maintenance jobs at specific HISD campuses by paying cash bribes and kickbacks to district personnel, including the individuals who entered plea agreements.
Hutchison also is accused of maintaining a bribe ledger in 2017, which he later told Hoskins to falsely tell the FBI it was for gambling, according to court records.
Sanders, Hoskins, Hall and Tovar have admitted to helping award or refraining from interfering in the awarding of HISD jobs to Southwest Wholesale LLC, a longtime HISD contractor owned by Hutchison, according to federal authorities.
Meanwhile, Skillern-Jones admitted to putting the expenditure of funds for landscaping and construction projects on a 2017 Board of Education agenda and voted to approve it, according to federal prosecutors.
The projects eventually were awarded to Hutchison.
Busby personally delivered thousands of dollars in bribe payments to Skillern-Jones from Hutchison, according to federal authorities, who said she made the admission in her plea agreement.
Federal prosecutors also accused Busby and Hutchison of interfering in the federal criminal investigation once they learned of the probe. During Thursday’s court appearance, a prosecutor told the federal judge that neither man was a flight risk but the government had concerns they would tamper with witnesses.
The investigation remains open and FBI officials asked that anyone who may have information about the alleged scheme report to it to the bureau’s corruption unit.
“Today’s arrests and related charges are the result of a lengthy, multifaceted FBI Houston investigation,” acting special agent in charge Richard A. Collodi said in a statement. “Houston taxpayers and the thousands of HISD students, along with their teachers and staff, are the potential victims of this alleged multimillion-dollar public corruption scheme.”
The alleged corruption was the latest related to HISD.
In 2016, a jury found that another former board president, Larry Marshall, had participated in a kickback scheme, causing millions of dollars in damages to a local construction contractor. In 2020, a senior manager resigned after disclosure of a document alleging he had assisted the kickback scheme involving Busby.
House, the superintendent, said it was his job to “set the standard for meaningful accountability districtwide.”
“I have been here less than four months, and my heart goes out to the tens of thousands of hardworking educators and staff of HISD whose only desire is to put Houston’s children first, and who share my outrage and frustration with today’s revelations,” he said. “We will not waver in our commitment to create a better district and a brighter future, and we will raise the bar for accountability at every level of our district.”