Several tied to City of Houston Public Works bribery scandal appear in court

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Many defendants involved in a City of Houston Public Works corruption case appeared before a judge Tuesday morning.

Patrece Lee is behind bars on a $460,000 bond and did not attend court, but ABC13 spoke with her lawyer. Lee was arrested last week and faces four charges of bribery and abuse of official capacity greater than $300,000.

Lee was a high-ranking public works employee who, along with her brother and five other accused accomplices, got the city to award them high-level emergency repair contracts for water main breaks.

The money was supposed to hire outside contractors to repair breaks across the city's water infrastructure.

RELATED: City says water repairs were never paused amid corruption scandal that could impact infrastructure

Issues continue to loom over Houston Public Works after an employee was charged for allegedly funneling money intended for officials to hire contract

Documents state that from January 2023 through November 2023, Lee allegedly solicited kickbacks worth more than $320,000.

The former employee is also said to have defrauded the department out of $400,000 by diverting funds to herself through what is being called a "shell" company.

"I told the judge the situation and reset her for a bond hearing so I can bring some folks down - family members, etcetera, and go against the idea that she'll be a flight risk for the community," Lee's lawyer Jay Dedrick said after Tuesday's hearing.

Dedrick said Lee's next bond hearing is set for June 21.

The prosecutor on this case told ABC13 that five of the seven defendants have turned themselves in.

READ MORE: Former city employee and 6 others accused of stealing millions of taxpayer dollars, records show

Houston Public Works employee Patrece Lee is charged with bribery after being accused of funneling department funds to a personal account.

Defendant Danielle Hurts, a former City of Houston contract employee; Frank Perkins, a business owner; Joseph Nerie, owner of Nerie Construction; and the attorney for business owner Tiesha Coleman Houston, were all in court Tuesday. Their attorneys talked with the judge about their individual bonds.

Andrew Travis Thomas, Lee's brother and registered agent of Lu's Construction and Inspection, and Edelmiro Castillo, owner of Omega Engineering, Inc., are also connected to the case but were not in court.

Of the millions of dollars allegedly stolen, $750,000 was pocketed between the seven people. The full shopping list isn't being released because it will be used as evidence in an upcoming trial, but the district attorney said multiple new cars were recently purchased.