HOUSTON — A former high-ranking Houston ISD executive and a contract vendor have been indicted after accusations of public corruption, according to FBI authorities.
HISD's former chief operating officer Brian Busby, 43, and contract vendor Anthony Hutchison, 60, were arrested by federal agents Thursday morning.
In the 26-count indictment, they're charged with conspiracy, bribery involving programs that received federal funds and witness tampering. Hutchison is also charged with wire fraud.
Last year, Busby was accused of taking cash kickbacks from a landscaping contractor, who was unnamed at the time.
Investigators said the executive approved proposals from the contractor and paid for work that Hutchison's business, Southwest Wholesale, had not performed. Busby was given cash bribes and hundreds of thousands of dollars in home remodeling in exchange, according to Thursday's indictment.
“Today's arrests and related charges are the result of a lengthy, multifaceted FBI Houston investigation,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard A. Collodi. "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 feds say Hutchison overbilled HISD by $6M and then shared the profits with Busby who used them to pay off others involved in the scheme.
"This was blatant corruption and violation of trust of all community members especially students and employees in HISD," said KHOU legal analyst Carmen Roe. "This is unprecedented."
Busby's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, says he's innocent.
"He went from janitor to COO without a sniff of illegality. He hasn't taken a bribe, paid a bribe, he's innocent and a fair jury will see that," DeGeurin said. "
Federal agents seized more than $186,000 cash from Hutchison and Busby's homes back in February 2020 in connection with the investigation, according to court documents. No charges were filed at the time.
Several other former HISD officials have already admitted guilt in the case, including former Board of Education President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, 39, officials said.
Skillern-Jones admitted Busby personally delivered thousands of dollars in bribe payments to her from Hutchison in her plea agreement, according to investigators.
"These individuals who have already given information to the government will be used against these two new defendants," Roe said.
Current board members say they're ready to move forward.
"We just have to be prayerful for our district and students, and center back to what our objectives should be," said current HISD trustee Kathy Blueford Daniels.
"Everybody here in Houston who watched this unravel before our eyes, it's hard to imagine an institution like HISD could have such an ongoing multi-million dollar conspiracy at the hands of the former president," Roe said. "And now the COO, among other employees, who were actively engaging in fraud against students and other members of HISD."
HISD released the following statement on Thursday after the indictment was announced:
"The Houston Independent School District has the following comment on the charges made public today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division:
"HISD fully cooperated with the federal investigation into actions that allegedly took place from 2011 to 2020 which led to the charges that were made public today. As indicated in previous statements by HISD, from the time that HISD became aware of the federal investigation in February 2020, HISD provided information as requested by law enforcement with respect to the investigation. As that criminal investigation progressed, HISD also implemented additional internal procedures to safeguard against the type of conduct alleged in the charges announced today.
"No person charged in connection with the indictments announced today is currently employed by HISD.
"HISD fully respects the criminal justice process, and HISD cannot comment further with respect to the underlying facts of the investigation or the charges announced today pending resolution of those charges."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.