(The Center Square) – Former Baton Rouge Metro Council member LaMont Cole allegedly accepted at least $40,000 in cash and gifts after helping steer nearly $600,000 in city-parish contracts to two associates, according to a newly released arrest-warrant affidavit.
Many of the contracts were funded through American Rescue Plan Act programs, according to the affidavit and two city sources familiar with the investigation.
Cole, now superintendent of East Baton Rouge Parish schools, surrendered Thursday morning and was booked into the parish prison. His bond was set at $15,000.
He was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on two counts of conspiracy to commit public bribery, two counts of being a principal to money laundering involving between $20,000 and $100,000, and one count of malfeasance in office.
Terral and Erica Jackson, operators of Broad Innovation Marketing Firm, were indicted alongside him.
The indictment itself reveals few details and identifies Aug. 10, 2022, as the beginning of at least some of the alleged conduct. The arrest-warrant affidavit describes a broader period spanning from November 2021 through February 2024.
Investigators allege Cole used his council position to help the Jacksons obtain contracts through the city-parish Blight Remediation Program and the Mayor’s Healthy City Initiative, also known as HealthyBR. Both programs received federal pandemic-relief funding.
The Jacksons obtained contracts totaling nearly $600,000 through the two programs, according to the affidavit. Broad Innovation alone allegedly received more than $500,000 through the healthy-city initiative between June 2022 and October 2023.
City records show that the Metro Council unanimously appropriated $48.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds on Aug. 10, 2022. That included approximately $5.5 million for community programs and social services intended to reduce gun violence.
Some of that money later financed two $75,000 agreements with Broad Innovation for community engagement and meetings between residents and law enforcement.
Cole and former Metro Council member Cleve Dunn Jr., who has been indicted in a separate but related corruption case, participated in council action involving those agreements.
Broad Innovation was contracted to perform work for Safe, Hopeful, Healthy BR, the city-parish’s anti-violence initiative. Contracting and spending associated with that initiative are now part of the Attorney General’s broader corruption investigation.
Two city officials familiar with Cole’s case confirmed that investigators were examining the ARPA-funded contracts.
The arrest affidavit, however, indicates the alleged arrangement extended beyond the two $75,000 agreements previously identified in council records.
Investigators cited text messages between Cole and Terral Jackson as evidence that the two discussed steering contracts and dividing the proceeds.
On Jan. 7, 2023, Cole allegedly told Jackson, “Just took care of you in a MAJOR way which means just took care of us.”
In another exchange, Cole allegedly wrote, “Another 10k a month,” during a discussion investigators interpreted as involving the division of contract money.
Jackson also allegedly asked Cole to help him obtain a blight-remediation job so they could divide $24,000.
The affidavit says Cole recommended Jackson for blight work and that the former director of the Department of Development relied on Cole’s recommendation.
Jackson received a one-year city-parish professional-services contract in December 2021 worth $22,500. It was renewed in January 2023 for $24,000.
Investigators also accuse Cole of pressuring city officials to release payments after a blight manager questioned whether Jackson had fulfilled the contract requirements.
The affidavit says Cole later suggested to Jackson that he had influenced the city’s decision not to renew the manager’s employment contract.
Multiple Metro Council members testified before the special grand jury that they did not know about Cole’s alleged financial arrangement with Jackson, according to the affidavit. They reportedly said they would not have approved the contracts had they known.
Cole denied steering contracts to Jackson during an interview with FBI agents, saying he had merely introduced Jackson to city-parish officials.
When investigators confronted him with messages discussing the division of contract proceeds, Cole reportedly said: “I agree conversations took place. I don’t agree I took money.”
The affidavit says Cole received annual ethics training and knew that public officials could not use their positions to obtain public money for themselves or others unlawfully.
The Attorney General’s Office declined further comment, citing the continuing investigation.
