pleaded not guilty in a Baton Rouge courtroom Wednesday to charges that he took a kickback for helping steer a $50,000 public transportation contract to a local businessman.
A special grand jury as part of an investigation by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office into inside East Baton Rouge city-parish government.
Prosecutors say Dunn, 49, helped steer the Capital Area Transit System contract to Jay Colar, who was also indicted earlier this year. Colar then paid more than 90% of the contract to Dunn as a kickback, prosecutors claim.
In addition to Colar and Dunn, the grand jury — which has been reviewing evidence since late 2025 — indicted former bus system official Pearlina Thomas and contractors Terral “TJ” Jackson and his wife, Erica Jackson.
They both have pleaded not guilty.
After taking office on the council in 2021, Dunn participated in several transactions that appropriated city-parish funds to CATS, authorities say, and he was aware that his oversight as a council member made it illegal for him to receive money from the transit agency.
Many of the charges filed by the attorney general’s office stem from an FBI probe that dates back to 2022. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter say evidence produced from the federal investigation was handed over to the attorney general in 2025.
In addition to the transit system investigation, federal investigators have subpoenaed Baton Rouge City Hall since 2023 for documents and records related to former Mayor Sharon Weston-Broome’s Safe, Hopeful, Healthy BR initiative and the $6 million federal housing project known as “Housing for Heroes.”
A subpoena related to the housing deal produced text messages between Dunn and the project's developer, Bradly Brown, that include references to money exchanged between them.
Dunn has denied wrongdoing. saying he gave Brown a bridge loan. Brown also has denied wrongdoing.
Brown was charged in December with state bank fraud, money laundering, theft and other counts related to the “Housing for Heroes” deal. He pleaded not guilty.
Dunn has not been charged in that matter.
In another case stemming from the investigations, Courtney Scott, a top aide to Broome, .
Scott is of roughly $200,000 from contractor Veronica Mathis from public dollars that flowed from the city-parish through the Safe, Hopeful, Healthy initiative.
During Scott’s appearance in court, a prosecutor for Murrill’s office told the judge the investigation in that case involves around 6 terabytes of electronic discovery materials.
to testify before the grand jury in April, though she has yet to appear. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Six current Metro Council members were subpoenaed and have testified in the past few months. Those officials are Rowdy Gaudet, Darryl Hurst, Anthony Kenney, Brandon Noel, Denise Amoroso and Jen Racca.
All have said they are not implicated in the probe and provided expert testimony to the grand jury.
On May 20, the grand jury heard testimony from two officials whose work involved facilitating contracts related to revitalization and addressing blight in council districts.