Patrece Lee, former City of Houston Public Works employee accused of corruption, bilked the department out of nearly $720,000 in bribes

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A former city of Houston public works employee was arrested for allegedly accepting bribes and funneling money through multiple companies for nearly 10 months, according to charging documents.

Patrece Lee faces four charges of bribery and abuse of official power amounting to more than $300,000.

Six more people are expected to turn themselves in in the coming days after being accused of stealing millions of dollars from taxpayers and possibly damaging public infrastructure for years.

“People fall victim to public corruption because it costs taxpayers money and, more importantly, it violates the public’s trust in government,” said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

Lee was arrested Thursday after being accused of being the mastermind of a scheme that allegedly stole millions of dollars in city taxes and lined her pockets.

The arrest comes after the city of Houston hired several emergency contractors to deal with several water main breaks last year.

Lee was a high-ranking public works employee who, along with her brother and five other accused co-conspirators, tricked the city into awarding them high-profile emergency repair contracts for water main breaks.

Documents indicate that from January 2023 to November 2023, Lee allegedly solicited bribes worth more than $320,000. The former employee also allegedly defrauded the department out of $400,000 by embezzling funds for herself through what is known as a “shell” company.

According to court records, Lee allegedly misused COH funds, water and water line repair services by recommending and demanding they pay Lu’s Construction’s bill. Charging documents say the business is owned by his brother.

From September 2023 to November 2023, documents indicate Lee agreed to accept payment from “Tiesha Coleman Houston” in cash for choosing her and recommending that she approve a work order as part of the justification for emergency purchase of the COH.

“Patrice Lee’s plan short-circuited every check and balance the city had in place to prevent theft and corruption,” Ogg said.

Randi Macchi, public works chief operating officer, said more checks and balances need to be implemented to prevent this from happening in the future. He suggested doing more work to ensure companies don’t run out of apartments, which was the case for the shell company Lee’s brother is accused of running.

The seven defendants now face 14 counts ranging from abuse of official power, bribery and forgery. Multiple charges are felonies.

“Everyone represented here today will not tolerate public corruption,” said Houston Mayor John Whitmire.

Of the millions of dollars stolen, $750,000 was pocketed between the seven people. The full shopping list is not being released because it will be used as evidence in an upcoming trial, but the prosecutor says several new cars were purchased recently.

The impacts of all this will last for years as poorly repaired infrastructure continues to crumble.

“Now that we know which repairs were good and which were bad, it may be a problem that we continue to pay for as taxpayers,” Ogg said.

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