HOUSTON – The former chief operating officer and a contract vendor with the Houston Independent School District have been both been indicted for conspiring in a bribery scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
On Thursday, former chief operating officer Brian Busby, 43, and HISD contract vendor Anthony Hutchison, 60, were arrested. Busby and Hutchison both pleaded not guilty to all the charges laid out in the 26 count indictment during Thursday afternoon’s arraignment in federal court. Both men posted bond after a federal judge set it at $100,000 each. As a condition of their bond, Busby cannot have contact with any former or current HISD employees. Hutchison cannot discuss the case or testimony with his employees. “Brian Busby was a loyal employee of HISD. He’s not taken a bribe. He hasn’t paid any bribe . He’s innocent and a fair jury is going to say that ‚” said attorney Dick Deguerin, who’s representing Busby. Another high-profile Houston attorney, Rusty Hardin, is representing Anthony Hutchison in the case.
According to officials, the following individuals entered plea agreements in connection with the case: Rhonda Skillern-Jones, 39, former HISD Board of Education President; Derrick Sanders, 50, the officer of construction services; Alfred Hoskins, 58, general manager of facilities, maintenance and operations; Gerron Hall, 47, area manager for maintenance (south); and Luis Tovar, 39, area manager for maintenance (north); all entered plea agreements in connection to the scheme, according to officials.
“This investigation and resulting indictments reflect my office’s commitment to rooting out public corruption in the Southern District of Texas,” said Lowery. “We will not stand idly by when there are people in positions of trust who are suspected of such wrongdoing. We will consider any matter our law enforcement partners bring us involving suspected fraud, waste, and abuse of power by those in whom we have placed our faith and confidence and work to hold them accountable.”
The 26-count indictment charges Busby and Hutchison with conspiring to engage in a bribery scheme.
Busby allegedly helped 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 the indictment, Hoskins, Sanders, Hall, Tovar and Skillern-Jones conspired with Busby and Hutchison to accept bribes from Hutchison for helping to award, or not interfering in the award of HISD contracts to Hutchison.
Operating as Southwest Wholesale, Hutchison allegedly entered long-term contracts with HISD to provide grounds maintenance to schools. The indictment alleges that from 2011 to 2020, Hutchison systematically overbilled HISD and inflated bills for services, causing millions of dollars in loss to the school district. Hutchison paid a portion of his fraudulently boosted profits to Busby in the form of cash payments and free home remodeling, according to the charges.
The indictment also shows that Hutchison obtained purchase orders for construction, repair, landscaping and maintenance jobs at particular HISD schools. Hutchison obtained these jobs by paying cash bribes, mostly in the form of kickbacks, to HISD personnel who assisted him in obtaining a business with HISD, according to the charges. Those allegedly included Busby, Sanders, Hoskins, Hall, Tovar and Skillern-Jones.
According to the indictment, once Busby and Hutchison learned of the federal criminal probe, they took steps to interfere in the investigation.
Sanders, Hoskins, Hall and Tovar have admitted they helped award or refrained from interfering in the award of, HISD jobs to Hutchison, typically at Busby’s insistence. As part of her plea, Skillern-Jones admitted that, in return for bribe payments from Hutchison, she caused an expenditure of funds for school landscaping and construction projects to be placed on a 2017 HISD Board agenda and voted to approve it. They were eventually awarded to Hutchison. In her plea agreement, she admitted Busby personally delivered thousands of dollars in bribe payments to her from Hutchison.
During the execution of search warrants in 2020 at the homes of Busby and Hutchison, authorities allegedly discovered over $186,000 in cash. The indictment gives notice of the government’s intent to forfeit the money.
Busby and Hutchison are charged with conspiracy, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and witness tampering. Hutchison is also charged with wire fraud. If convicted, they face up to five, 10 or 20 years in prison for the conspiracy, bribery and witness tampering charges. Hutchison also faces up to 20 years for each count of wire fraud.
Hoskins, Sanders, Hall, Tovar and Skillern-Jones have pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges. They face up to five years in prison.
All of the charges also carry a $250,000 maximum possible fine.
HISD released the following statement in response to the indictment:
“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.”