DA's office finds no criminal wrongdoing at METRO

HOUSTON In a letter to the agency, Harris Co. District Attorney Pat Lykos stated the office "has completed investigation into the allegations that employees of METRO were destroying public documents and failing to comply with open records requests in violation of the Texas Public Information Act. Our investigation found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing and those allegations were unfounded."

The DA's investigation began in early March after attorney Lloyd Kelley filed a lawsuit in January, alleging documents at METRO were being destroyed after he requested information from the agency.

Kelley agreed to settle the lawsuit in June because METRO's new board set up a new document retention policy. METRO also did not admit destroying any documents.

Former METRO President and CEO Frank Wilson resigned in May over the alleged document shredding as well as allegations of using public funds to further a relationship with a secretary. George Greanias took over as interim president.

METRO said it was pleased with the results of the DA's investigation.

"With this issue behind us, we can continue to move forward building the new METRO, promoting greater transparency and restoring public trust and confidence in the agency," said METRO Chairman of the Board Gilbert Garcia.

Garcia also said METRO can focus on securing the federal funding for the construction of light rail and providing a better transportation system for Houston.