BATON ROUGE - WBRZ's Investigative Unit uncovered new details investigators say link District 6 Councilman Cleve Dunn to a corruption investigation involving CATS.

In a 19th JDC courtroom on Wednesday morning, Dunn was indicted on two counts each of bribery and money laundering, as well as public contract fraud, illegal split commission of commodities, and malfeasance in office.

He is also being charged with multiple counts of conspiracy connected to the scheme.

WBRZ previously reported that Dunn is a previously unindicted co-conspirator mentioned in indictments of former Capital Area Transit System Chief Administrator Pearlina Thomas and CATS contractors Jay Colar, Terral “TJ” Jackson, and Erica Jackson, issued earlier this month.

                    
Pearlina Thomas                       Jarian "Jay" Colar               Erica Jackson              Terral "TJ" Jackson               

According to documents obtained by the WBRZ Investigative Unit, agents with the Louisiana Department of Justice say Dunn abused his elected position of power in order to secure a $50,000 contract with CATS.

Agents say Dunn introduced Colar to Thomas while she was CEO of CATS, used his influence as a councilmember to issue a contract to Supreme Solutions, and profited through kickbacks from the purported owner of that company, Jay Colar.  

In addition, Supreme Solutions LLC was paid for work that investigators could not substantiate and that Colar reportedly admitted was plagiarized.

Colar is listed as the current owner, but records indicate Dunn and his wife were the previous owners.   Agents, however, allege Colar never had control of the bank account for the company.

In addition, documents obtained by the WBRZ Investigative Unit say the company was paid $50,000, at least $33,000 of which was converted to checks made out to “C.G." Agents have confirmed what WBRZ has reported: “C.G.” is Core Group LLC, a company registered to Dunn.

Mayor Pro Tem Brandon Noel said that, while saddened by the news of Dunn's indictment, he will not pass judgment on a colleague until he has his day in court.

"I have faith in our justice system to uncover the facts and root out the truth, whatever that may be," Noel said over the phone while in Washington, D.C., where Councilman Dunn, Noel, and other Louisiana lawmakers are currently visiting for Washington Mardi Gras. "Should any wrongdoing be found, I feel that all involved should be held accountable."

Mayor-President Sid Edwards said in a statement that his office had cooperated fully with investigators.

"These allegations are especially disturbing at a time when we are working to conduct government with integrity and respect for taxpayers’ dollars," Edwards said in a statement. The mayor also said Dunn was entitled to due process and that justice system should be allowed to do its work.

Attorney General Liz Murrill said that her office expects "additional indictments based upon this ongoing grand jury investigation."