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Change-of-plea hearing set for ex-BP engineer in oil spill case

FILE - In this April 21, 2010, file photo, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice, La. BP and five Gulf states announced an $18.7 billion settlement Thursday, July 2, 2015, that resolves years of legal fighting over the environmental and economic damage done by the energy giant’s oil spill in 2010. The settlement involves Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - In this April 21, 2010, file photo, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice, La. BP and five Gulf states announced an $18.7 billion settlement Thursday, July 2, 2015, that resolves years of legal fighting over the environmental and economic damage done by the energy giant’s oil spill in 2010. The settlement involves Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) FILE - In this April 21, 2010, file photo, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice, La. BP and five Gulf states announced an $18.7 billion settlement Thursday, July 2, 2015, that resolves years of legal fighting over the environmental and economic damage done by the energy giant’s oil spill in 2010. The settlement involves Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

NEW ORLEANS – A change-of-plea hearing has been set in federal court for a former BP engineer accused of deleting text messages related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Kurt Mix has spent more than three years fighting charges that he obstructed an investigation by deleting text messages about the amount of oil that spewed from the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig after an April 2010 explosion.

He was acquitted on one criminal charge in a 2013 trial. He was convicted on an obstruction of justice charge at that same trial, but he won a new trial because of juror misconduct.

He has pleaded not guilty but court records show that a change-of-plea hearing is set for Friday morning. His attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.