Indicted, Booked, Back at Work: Inside the Bribery Case Against EBR Superintendent Lamont Cole

BATON ROUGE — East Baton Rouge Parish School Superintendent Lamont Cole was formally indicted by a grand jury Wednesday, one day before the district's students returned to class — and turned himself in to the parish jail Thursday afternoon, hours after the first day of school wrapped up.

The grand jury in the 19th Judicial District Court returned a formal indictment charging Cole, 52, with two counts of conspiracy to commit public bribery, two counts of money laundering involving between $20,000 and $100,000, and one count of malfeasance in office. Terral "TJ" Jackson and his wife, Erica Jackson, were indicted alongside him on related bribery and money laundering charges.

According to a newly released arrest-warrant affidavit, Cole allegedly accepted at least $40,000 in cash and gifts in exchange for helping steer nearly $600,000 in city-parish contracts to Broad Innovation Marketing Firm, a company owned and operated by the Jacksons. Many of the contracts were funded through American Rescue Plan Act dollars, according to the affidavit and city sources familiar with the investigation. The work ran through the city-parish's blight remediation program and former Mayor Sharon Weston Broome's "Safe, Hopeful, Healthy Baton Rouge" anti-violence initiative.

The alleged conduct, according to the indictment, spans Aug. 10, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2024 — a window covering the final stretch of Cole's tenure on the Metro Council, where he served as mayor pro tem, and the first several months of his current role as superintendent.

The Jacksons weren't new to this investigation. They were already facing separate charges of theft and conspiracy to commit theft connected to a fraud probe involving the Capital Area Transit System (CATS), meaning the couple is now fighting allegations tied to two separate pots of public money.

Cole turned himself in Thursday, was booked on the charges, and had his bond set at $15,000. He was back at his desk the same day after bonding out. Asked for comment by a reporter at the jail, Cole said only, "Respectfully, no comment."

In a written statement, Cole called the indictment "a miscarriage of justice based on association, not attestation, and proximity to potential crimes without proof," and said he would comply with all legal requests while expressing confidence the legal system would "swiftly recognize this for what it is." EBR School Board President Shashonnie Steward and Vice President Cliff Lewis issued a joint statement saying they stand "firmly behind Mr. Cole as he navigates this matter," while stressing they were speaking in their personal capacities rather than on behalf of the full board, and invoking the presumption of innocence.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, whose office has led a widening corruption probe into Baton Rouge city-parish government, offered a brief statement following the indictment: "These are very serious charges. It was based on a lengthy investigation by the grand jury. This investigation is continuing, so we have no further comment at this time." Cole is the latest official swept up in that investigation, following charges against former Metro Council member Cleve Dunn Jr., a former mayoral aide, and a former CATS chief administrative officer.

This is a developing story. WECU Media will update as the case proceeds.

Sources:

●       WAFB, "EBR School Superintendent Lamont Cole indicted in sweeping Baton Rouge corruption probe," Aug. 5, 2026

●       WAFB, "EBR Schools Superintendent Lamont Cole turns himself in to EBR jail," Aug. 6, 2026

●       WBRZ, "East Baton Rouge Superintendent back at work after bonding out of jail," Aug. 2026

●       The Center Square, "Texts, council records detail alleged Cole contract scheme," Aug. 2026

●       NOLA.com, "Baton Rouge school leader, former Metro Council member LaMont Cole indicted," Aug. 2026

●       WBRZ, "Superintendent LaMont Cole indicted, EBR Schools says it stands firmly behind him in statement," Aug. 2026