Tagged: courts

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — By arresting a former BP engineer, federal prosecutors are showing their hand in the Gulf oil spill case. They have been probing whether BP PLC and its employees broke the law by intentionally lowballing how much oil was spewing from its out-of-control well. The arrest came two years and four days after the drilling-rig explosion. 

BP is heading back to federal court in New Orleans on a proposed settlement over its oil spill two years ago. Shrimp processors are objecting to some terms.

"The first criminal charges in connection with the BP oil spill have been filed against a former BP engineer named Kurt Mix," NPR's Carrie Johnson reports exclusively.

Carrie just told our Newscast unit that Mix has been charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly deleting text messages after the spill. The texts were related to the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf. Mix will make his first appearence in court today.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Justice Department says more than $64 million will be paid to about 7,300 people and businesses whose claims with BP's $20 billion compensation fund were shortchanged or wrongfully denied after the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  The department says an independent audit found significant errors in its processing of claims.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A former Louisiana congressman will have to begin serving a 13-year prison sentence for taking bribes and other crimes within two weeks.

Democrat William Jefferson was convicted in 2009 but has been free on bond while appealing his case. The case drew headlines when FBI agents found $90,000 cash hidden in Jefferson's freezer.