A Houston federal jury has found Brian Busby, the former chief operating officer of the Houston Independent School District (HISD), and Anthony Hutchison, a contractor, guilty of engaging in a complex, multimillion-dollar fraud scheme. According to U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the Southern District of Texas, Busby and Hutchison were convicted of conspiracy, bribery, filing false tax returns, and witness tampering. Additionally, Hutchison was found guilty of seven counts of wire fraud.
The trial, which lasted four weeks, involved testimony from over 50 witnesses, including five former HISD officials who testified about receiving bribes. The officials named included Rhonda Skillern-Jones, former HISD Board of Education president; Derrick Sanders, officer of construction services; Alfred Hoskins, general manager of facilities, maintenance and operations; Gerron Hall, area manager for maintenance – south; and Luis Tovar, area manager for maintenance - north. The officials described how Busby influenced them to favor Hutchison's companies with contracts and larger projects, especially in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
The case revealed that Hutchison managed an invoicing fraud through his company Southwest Wholesale, overcharging HISD significantly. Furthermore, Busby made substantial cash deposits that exceeded his lawful income and attempted to attribute these to other sources, which the jury did not find credible.
During sentencing slated for July 28, Busby and Hutchison could face severe penalties, including up to 20 years imprisonment for some charges. Hutchison also faces potential additional sentences for the wire fraud convictions. Concurrently, co-defendants Skillern-Jones, Sanders, Hoskins, Hall, and Tovar have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and are awaiting their sentences.
Ganjei stated, "HISD is the largest school district in the state, and the people of Houston trusted that district officials would spend their tax dollars wisely and carefully. Instead, Busby and Hutchison defrauded the school district and the taxpayers of millions of dollars, doing so to line their own pockets." He further emphasized the role of the trial in restoring public trust.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams noted, “For years, Busby and Hutchison defrauded the largest public school system in Texas out of millions of dollars - money that was intended to benefit the students of HISD.” The investigation involved the FBI and IRS, with prosecutions handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Johnson and Heather R. Winter.