Houston, TX-
In the water line repair contract scam, Patrice Lee, the former city manager of Houston, is now facing a new felony accusation.
A new criminal charge has been brought against the former Houston city manager who was at the center of a contract corruption scam.
Patrece Lee is currently facing charges related to his involvement in organized crime. She was already incarcerated on $460,000 bond charges, which included four counts of bribery and abuse of public capacity. As of Tuesday night, no bond had been set for the new charge against her.
As a result of a report from our ongoing “DRAINED” investigation, a grand jury indicted Lee in May. During that probe, KPRC 2 disclosed that Lee had reportedly directed city water contracts to her family and friends without conducting appropriate bidding procedures or background checks, using her position as head of the Houston Water Department.
In addition, Andrew Thomas, the brother of Lee, has been accused with involvement in the affair along with six other individuals.
Prosecutors claim that Lee utilized money unlawfully in a scheme involving her brother and Danielle Hurts, whom they identified as Patrece Lee’s personal collection agent, according to court filings.
The new charge was described by Ed McClees, a former head of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office’s organized crime division.
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“There has to be underlying crimes that they are alleging. And essentially what the law says is you take these underlying crimes, crimes being plural, not just one of them, but it is a group that is working together to do certain crimes,” he said. “It kind of ups the ante. It bumps you up a degree in punishment, so a case that may have been a second degree becomes a first degree, you know, why do degrees matter? They matter because that is what dictates the punishment range.”
Lee’s sentence has been increased from what she would have faced to 15 years to life in prison without the option of probation, according to his analysis of newly available court documents that KPRC 2 obtained late Tuesday.
“Prosecutors and police officers like to see engaging in organized criminal activity cases because it widens or it expands the available punishment. And from a prosecution standpoint, in some cases, it can widen the net of evidence that becomes admissible at trial,” McClees said.
Regarding the timing of the additional charge, he explained that it might be because the prosecution has access to fresh evidence, that they are attempting to prosecute the case more forcefully, or that they are deliberately manipulating the bond in an attempt to persuade the judge to reduce it.
On Thursday, Lee has a hearing wherein the topic of bond reduction may come up. KPRC 2 reached out to her attorney for comment on this most recent development, but she hasn’t replied.
Although no more information on the new charge has been released by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, a representative stated that as of Tuesday night, no new defendants had been identified as reported by Click2Houston.
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