HOUSTON, Texas – We are hearing more from one of the main people charged in the city of Houston’s contract corruption scandal.
KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis was in court today for the latest developments in the case that was first brought to light because of the KPRC ‘DRAINED’ Investigation.
You may remember, Investigator Amy Davis tried knocking on the door of Andrew Thomas to ask questions about shady waterline repair contracts. He didn’t want to talk then.
Investigator Amy Davis revealed his sister Patrece Lee awarded him a $4.5 million contract for waterline inspections. Five months later, a grand jury indicted Patrece Lee, Thomas, and five others on bribery and corruption charges. On Friday, for the first time since that door knock, we heard from Andrew Thomas, who seemed to have a lot to say.
Andrew Thomas was in court Friday, July 12 to formally request a court-appointed attorney. He has said he can’t afford to pay one himself, so not a lot happened inside the courtroom. He filled out the paperwork, and KPRC 2 was able to catch up to him before he went inside.
With no door to shield him, Andrew Thomas answered all of the questions Amy Davis asked him.
“I’ve never stolen anything in my life. Everything I’ve ever gotten I was blessed with, or I earned,” he said.
Andrew Thomas said he earned the emergency contract his sister awarded him just six months after he started Lu’s Construction and Inspection.
Amy: “Did your company do anything before the waterline contract?”
Andrew Thomas: “No ma’am. That was the first contract. The hope was to land that contract, do the work, and build a relationship with the city where we could follow up and get into more contracts.”
Before he was awarded more contracts, KPRC 2 revealed what appeared to be a big conflict of interest. One that neither he nor his sister disclosed in the required conflict of interest questionnaires from the city.
“I did misread those forms and I interpreted it differently,” said Thomas.
In court records, the Texas Rangers say Thomas “cooked the books” with Lee and funneled $406,000 to Lu’s Construction and then moved much of that money to Patrece Lee’s account.
Thomas is charged with abuse of official capacity.
Lee is charged with the same plus four counts of bribery.
Amy: “What do you think about these charges against you, against your sister? Those are pretty serious charges.”
Andrew: “Yeah, they’re very surprising because, like I said, the work was being done. It was actively being done. We had actual tangible people out inspecting the waterlines that were being fixed, so this does come as a shock to me.”
Thomas’ sister Patrece Lee, who worked for the city of Houston and awarded all of those waterline contracts, is still in jail. She is the only one of the 7 defendants who has not bonded out.