Ex-BP engineer seeks sentencing delay
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former BP engineer has asked for a delay in his sentencing on an obstruction of justice charge related to the 2010 Gulf oil spill.
Kurt Mix was convicted in December for deleting text messages in what prosecutors said was an attempt to hamper the government's criminal investigation of the spill resulting from the deadly Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. He is scheduled for a sentencing hearing April 23.
However, he also is awaiting U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval's ruling on motions that would overturn that conviction. His attorneys noted in filings this week that Duval has said the ruling could take some time. They said a delay in Mix's scheduled sentencing hearing until July 30 or later would enable Mix to seek at least temporary employment in the oil industry.
