First criminal charges filed in BP oil spill

A former BP engineer has been charged with destroying 200-plus text messages about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including one concluding that the undersea gusher was far worse than reported at the time. Kurt Mix faces two counts of intentionally destroying evidence requested by authorities, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday. The charges mark the first criminal case brought in conjunction with the 2010 blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, which spewed nearly 5 million barrels of crude into the sea.