Ex-Halliburton Manager Pleads Guilty

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former Halliburton manager has pleaded guilty to destroying evidence after the rig explosion that spawned BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sixty-two-year-old Anthony Badalamenti of Katy, Texas faces a maximum sentence of 1 year in prison and a $100,000 fine after his guilty plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court to one count of destruction of evidence. Sentencing was set for Jan. 21.

Badalamenti was the cementing technology director for Halliburton Energy Services, BP's contractor on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Prosecutors said he instructed two Halliburton employees to delete data during a post-spill review of the cement job on BP's blown-out Macondo well.

Last month, a federal judge accepted a separate plea agreement that calls for Halliburton to pay a $200,000 fine stemming from Badalamenti's conduct.