TAMPA — A disgraced Tampa police detective admitted in a federal plea agreement that he used money from fraudulently obtained tax refunds to pay off more than $5,000 in credit card debt.

The agreement was filed late Tuesday in the case of Eric Houston, a once-respected homicide detective with the Tampa Police Department. He was fired in 2014 amid revelations that he was the target of a federal investigation.

The agreement states that in early 2011, Houston accumulated $5,021.58 in debt on a Home Depot credit card. Months later, the debt was paid off in three money transfers from a bank account associated with Rita Girven, a one-time informer with Tampa police.

Girven obtained a series of fraudulent tax refunds, which she then deposited into the account, according to the plea agreement. She then used money in the account to pay off Houston's credit card.

The plea agreement represents Houston's formal admission to a charge of receiving, concealing or retaining stolen property of the United States. A change of plea hearing is scheduled for March 22.

The trial of Houston and his wife and co-defendant, LaJoyce Houston, also a former Tampa police officer, had been scheduled for May. Last July, lawyers in the case said a resolution through a plea agreement seemed unlikely. They said both defendants were eager to take their case to a jury.

In October 2015, federal prosecutors filed a 14-count indictment against the couple, charging them with conspiring with a Tampa police informer to commit stolen identity tax refund fraud, ultimately enriching themselves by at least $239,117. Six more counts were added in February.

According to the indictment, the Houstons mined Tampa Police Department databases for names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. The government says they passed information to Rita Girven, a longtime police informer who has pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. No plea agreement has been filed for LaJoyce Houston.

Contact Dan Sullivan at dsullivan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3386. Follow @TimesDan.