Former HISD COO takes the stand in bribery case, denies kickbacks in $7M HISD scheme

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Five years after the FBI raided his home, former HISD chief operating officer Brian Busby said he is eager to tell his side of the story.

According to court documents, prosecutors allege Busby helped award construction and grounds maintenance contracts to Anthony Hutchison, an HISD vendor at the time, in exchange for cash and hundreds of thousands of dollars in home remodeling.

PREVIOUS REPORT: Trial begins for ex-HISD COO and alleged co-conspirator accused in kickback scheme

The FBI's investigation dates back to 2018. Investigators believe Busby and Hutchison are part of an alleged kickback scheme that totaled about $7 million in HISD funds over a seven-year span.

Raids were conducted on February 27, 2020, at Busby's home in northwest Harris County, his office at HISD's administration building, and Hutchison's home and office.

Busby's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, called him to the stand as the defense's first witness. He said he was eager to tell his story and has been through "five years of pain."

He said he and his wife at the time were in their pajamas and their children were getting ready for school when the FBI banged on their door in 2020. He said his children were crying when the agents came in with guns drawn.

Busby told jurors about his rise from janitor to chief operating officer and said, "I think it was God."

He said he first met Hutchison's wife in 2009 at an HISD expo where she asked how to get on HISD's vendor list.

Busby said he became friends with Hutchison and his wife in the following years. In a seven year time span, he said their families traveled together roughly twice but he and Hutchison traveled together numerous times.

He describes trips to Vegas to gamble and watch games, but said he was very conscious to pay his own way.

"I didn't want there to be a thought he was entertaining me as an HISD employee," Busby testified.

Busby said in January of 2020, the two traveled to Vegas together, and he won $38,000. Four days before the raids in February of 2020, he won $60,000.

He said he deposited the money in the bank but kept some in the safe at his house.

"Did Hutch ever give you money to do something in his job?" DeGuerin asked.

"No, he never had to," Busby responded. "Once you get the reputation of doing good work, everyone is going to start calling you. When you look at the work he was getting, it was a lot."

Busby said Hutchison never asked him for anything as it related to HISD, other than helping him get paid for the work he was doing for the district.

During his first day of testimony, Busby said HISD will often do work without having the money for it, and vendors will go months without being paid.

He described a situation where a company would not provide portable chillers to HISD until the district gave them $6 million in backpay.

The former COO said he and Hutchison had a bond because neither of them were raised by their biological parents, but watched their biological parents raise other children.

Hutchison's landscaping company, Southwest Wholesale, was hired by HISD to do work in HISD's south district, and Busby said he gained the north district because he was known to do good work. He said he did not have anything to do with Hutchison getting contracts with HISD.

Federal prosecutors allege Hutchison did remodeling work at Busby's home for free as part of the kickback scheme.

DeGuerin showed jurors receipts showing that Busby paid Hutchison for the work. Busby testified he used some of his gambling winnings to pay Hutchison.

"He wouldn't have done it for free," Busby testified.

Prosecutors questioned where the receipts were kept in the home and objected the authenticity of them.

Five others have accepted plea agreements in the case already. Four worked in various maintenance and facility roles at HISD, including Derrick Sanders, Alfred Hoskins, Gerron Hall, and Luis Tovar. Former HISD Board of Education president Rhonda Skillern-Jones admitted to taking more than $10,000 in bribe payments from Hutchison, according to the plea filed in her case.

During his time on the stand Friday, Busby said he had never spoken to Tovar before.

He said he and Hall gambled together, mostly placing football bets, but they did not talk much outside of that other than 'joking around.'

Busby said he and Sanders were "extremely close" and he thought they were really good friends but never asked anything of each other. Busby testified that Sanders was using Hutchison's company prior to Busby knowing about it.

During his testimony, Busby said that he met Skillern-Jones prior to her getting on the school board and they became friends once she was on the board. He said she was always seeking donations for her kids or church, but described it as nothing improper.

When he would not give her money, Busby said she asked vendors, including Hutchison. Busby said he got complaints that she was asking for too much.

Skillern-Jones solicited a donation from Hutchison following Harvey, according to Busby, for gift cards to be handed out.

It is allegeded in court records that Skillern-Jones said she met Busby in a Walmart parking lot to give her a $10,000 bribe payment. Busby said he had never seen her outside of HISD's administration building or at a happy hour that he said he and others attended on a monthly basis.

He said he gave her cash from Hutchison at the HISD administration building for the post-Harvey gift card donation.

Friday wraps up the third week of trial.

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