Editor
Anthony Hutchison, a former NFL player from the 80s and high-stakes poker player, was found guilty of 21 counts related to fraud and bribery. Hutchison was on trial from April 10th for allegedly giving kickbacks to members of a school district in Houston, where Hutchison is from.
The former Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills running back was a high-stakes poker regular in the Houston area in private games. According to many, most notably 2010 WSOP bracelet winner Ayaz Mahmoud, Hutchison was a big losing player in these high-stakes games.
These big losing poker sessions may have been the catalyst for him to dip his hand into the corruption waters. Hutchison has a long history of shady activities to fund his high-stakes poker fixation. Several things Hutchison allegedly did over the years include: bribing district employees, over-billing customers on landscaping services, and falsifying tax returns.
Out of all of that, the big thing that got the attention of authorities and what has ultimately landed Hutchison in hot water is the bribery of school district employees. He and his conspirator Brian Busby over-billed Houston Independent school district employees for $800,000 from a period of seven years from 2013-2020.
The Trial
The trail lasted four weeks and the jury ended up deliberating for a quick six hours before finding Hutchison and Busby both guilty. The jury took into account witness testimony from over 50 witnesses, which ended up being the finishing blow for the defense.
The FBI field office of Houston had this to say on the guilty verdict:
“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. In turn, Busby and Hutchison also defrauded the taxpayers whose hard-earned dollars were fraudulently diverted for their greed and personal gain. Public corruption cases like this one are challenging to investigate and prove and erode the trust we place on our public servants. At the end of the day, we want to make sure corrupt individuals like Busby and Hutchison are brought to justice. Today’s guilty verdict is a step towards that justice. I’m proud of FBI Houston’s public corruption squad for the results of its years-long investigation and thank them, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, for their commitment to this case and to its thousands of victims.”
