A new grand jury indictment has trimmed the criminal case against East Baton Rouge Parish Schools Superintendent LaMont Cole, cutting his charges from five counts down to three, even as prosecutors continue pressing allegations that he traded contracts for kickbacks. The superseding indictment, filed earlier in October 2026, now charges Cole with one count each of conspiracy to commit public bribery, money laundering and malfeasance in office.
That is a narrower set of charges than what Cole originally faced. According to theadvocate.com, the Aug. 5 indictment had charged Cole with two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, two counts of money laundering and a single count of malfeasance in office — meaning the new filing effectively dropped two counts while keeping the core allegations intact. As reported by unfilteredwithkiran.com, the new indictment ties the allegations to contracts from 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Cole, who also previously served as East Baton Rouge Parish mayor pro tempore, turned himself in at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison in August after the grand jury first indicted him, per WBRZ. He posted a $15,000 bond and was released, and a judge later ruled he could leave the state without court approval while awaiting trial, according to the station's reporting.
What the New Charges Allege
The superseding indictment says Terral Jackson received three contracts totaling a little over $70,000 as a community outreach worker for blight remediation, the article notes. A separate entity, Broad Innovation Marketing, received nearly $200,000 in contracts tied to the Safe Hopeful Healthy Baton Rouge project, per the same account. The new indictment states that Terral Jackson and Erica Jackson agreed to receive kickbacks in an effort to procure contracts from the city-parish and the mayor's office, in exchange for Cole's help obtaining those contracts, per WBRZ.
Prosecutors for the Attorney General's Office allege Cole accepted at least $40,000 in bribes from Terral Jackson, according to wafb.com. The original affidavit had alleged Cole received $40,000 in cash bribes and gifts from Terral Jackson and abused his elected position of power, per WBRZ, though the superseding indictment does not repeat that $40,000 figure from the initial affidavit. Investigators allege the conduct occurred from Aug. 10, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2024, according to wafb.com.
Cole Denies Wrongdoing, Fights the Indictment
Cole has denied taking a bribe or anything of value from the Jacksons, wafb.com reports. His attorneys are asking that the remaining charges against him be dropped, and they said they plan to file motions to throw out the new indictment, per unfilteredwithkiran.com.
This is not the defense team's first attempt to derail the case. Cole's defense previously filed a motion challenging the validity of the grand jury that indicted him and other current or former city-parish officials, theadvocate.com reported. A second motion to toss the indictment, filed Sept. 10, argued that the original Aug. 5 indictment was too vague and failed to explain any wrongdoing on Cole's part, according to wafb.com. Attempts to reach the Attorney General's Office and Cole for comment were unsuccessful, per WBRZ.
Cole Remains in Charge of Schools
Despite the ongoing prosecution, Cole continues to lead the day-to-day operations of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, theadvocate.com reports. Several current school board members have said they support Cole staying on as superintendent while he defends himself, though at least one school board candidate has called for his immediate removal, according to the same outlet.
In response to the case, the school board has adopted additional contract-signing controls and ordered an audit of contracts issued since March 21, 2024. Board members voted 8-0 for the changes after little discussion, with one member absent, theadvocate.com reported.
Louisiana law sets the potential penalty for public bribery at a fine of not more than $2,000, imprisonment with or without hard labor for not more than 10 years, or both, according to the Louisiana State Legislature.
