{"id":864714,"date":"2026-06-13T14:43:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T14:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/864714\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T14:43:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T14:43:21","slug":"two-houston-area-residents-plead-guilty-to-falsifying-wastewater-testing-results-houston-public-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/864714\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Houston-area residents plead guilty to falsifying wastewater testing results \u2013 Houston Public Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"One<\/a><\/p>\n

Courtesy of Houston Public Works<\/p>\n

One of Houston\u2019s 39 wastewater treatment plants, which were not a part of the criminal investigation.<\/p>\n

Two people from the Houston area have pleaded guilty to falsifying wastewater test results at a facility in Conroe, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which said the falsified results included illegal levels of ammonia, E. coli and phosphorus. <\/p>\n

Derek McCoy, 52, and Deena Higginbotham, 56, both of Spring, pleaded guilty to falsifying or aiding an abetting the falsification of data required under federal and state law, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Federal prosecutors said a third person, John Montgomery of Llano, also admitted to the same crime. <\/p>\n

According to court documents, McCoy was the CEO of North Water District Laboratory Services in Conroe and Higginbotham was the director of client services. Montgomery was the compliance coordinator for an unnamed water utility in Cypress, which utilized the laboratory’s testing. <\/p>\n

Sign up for the Hello, Houston!<\/a> daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n

The three aided or abetted in changing water test results to “falsely ensure that treatment facilities did not exceed pollutant limits,” according to the attorney’s office, which said the falsified results were submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).<\/p>\n

“By submitting falsified data, these defendants undermined the integrity of a program specifically designed to safeguard human health,” Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck said in a Thursday statement. “Today\u2019s guilty pleas show that we and our partners at EPA \u2013 Criminal Investigation Division and Office of Inspector General, as well as TCEQ, are committed to rooting out and holding accountable those who not only violate the law but also endanger the safety and erode the trust of the public we serve.” <\/p>\n

Court documents show that McCoy and Montgomery were fired from their jobs in 2024, several months before they and Higginbotham were indicted in July 2025. <\/p>\n

Sentencing for all three is set for Sept. 3, and each faces up to two years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. <\/p>\n

In a statement to Houston Public Media on Friday, McCoy\u2019s defense attorney, Gery Tabakman, said McCoy regrets his actions, adding that he is not the only one who should be held accountable. <\/p>\n

“Mr. McCoy deeply regrets his actions and understands the significance of the conduct that led to today’s plea. He looks forward to putting this matter behind him and focusing on the future,\u201d Tabakman said. \u201cAt the same time, the government acknowledged in open court that the company responsible for submitting records to government agencies knew certain test results had been altered. While one employee was charged, neither the company nor its owners faced charges. That disparity is difficult to reconcile. Mr. McCoy has accepted responsibility for his role, but accountability should be applied evenly to all those involved.”<\/p>\n

Erin Epley, an attorney for Montgomery, said he \u201cfully cooperated with internal compliance efforts and law enforcement\u201d once an investigation began.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe accepted responsibility early and has entered a guilty plea,\u201d Epley added. \u201cMr. Montgomery will continue cooperating with the government as this matter proceeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

An attorney for Higginbotham did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy of Houston Public Works One of Houston\u2019s 39 wastewater treatment plants, which were not a part of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":864715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[281,4219,746,11621,4345,425,50,244073,142918,358,3187,61953,352491,65104],"class_list":["post-864714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-court","tag-crime","tag-environment","tag-epa","tag-houston","tag-local","tag-news","tag-southern-district-court-of-texas","tag-tceq","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-u-s-attorneys-office","tag-wastewater-testing","tag-wastewater-treatment"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116743334084983617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}