BATON ROUGE — A grand jury indicted the former head of the region's groundwater commission, an assistant superintendent at BREC and another man on allegations that they conspired to bypass state purchasing laws.

Gary Beard and Oscar "Reed" Richard were accused of one count each of malfeasance in office, monopolizing trade or commerce, and conspiracy. Jason Hewitt is accused of two counts of conspiracy, two counts of monopolizing trade and two counts of being a principal to malfeasance in office.

Hewitt held contracts with the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation District and with BREC, and prosecutors allege the pacts were intended to restrict competition.

Beard is the former director of the groundwater commission, Richard is the assistant superintendent at BREC System Planning and Hewitt works for Sustainability Partners, whose website bills it as a company dedicated to helping fund and maintain "essential infrastructure."

"I knew it just didn't seem right to me," said BREC Commission Treasurer Dwayne Rogers.

He raised concerns about entering into a contract with Sustainability Partners years before. Those concerns were validated when an investigator from the attorney general's office came to speak with him last year.

"Through the AG's investigation, once they started investigating Sustainability Partners, I learned that BREC should not have entered into contracts in the first place."

Attorney General Liz Murrill's office has been investigating sustainability partners for a couple years.

In a memorandum from the attorney general to the bond commission from April, they advised that the contracts with Sustainability Partners create long-term debt and should require the approval of the bond commission. They also were not put out for bid.

Perhaps more importantly, they found the cost of the infrastructure Sustainability Partners was providing was more more expensive than it should have been, directly impacting taxpayers.

The letter says the contract with BREC provided turf and lights for eight parks.

"From a BREC standpoint, it was allowing BREC to get some deferred maintenance or improvements done without having to make an initial investment," Rogers said.

According to Rogers, that contract was $500,000 of taxpayer money per year.

As of Thursday evening, both Beard and Hewitt had turned themselves in. Richard has not been booked.
According to BREC, Richard is still employed.

"It was a shock to me because I did not — never had any thought — that anyone from BREC had done anything criminally wrong," Rogers said. 

The nature of any Sustainability Partners work with the groundwater commission wasn't immediately known.

For five decades, the groundwater district has regulated the area's aquifer in an attempt to control saltwater intrusion. It was funded by fees imposed on those who withdrew large amounts of water — farmers, water companies and industrial plants. Lawmakers this year placed the groundwater district under the state Department of Conservation and Energy.

The agency's most recent audit, dated last summer, said the district did not properly monitor whether it was collecting all it should in pumpage fee revenue, and auditors suggested the agency explore ways to validate self-reported amounts.

Auditors also expressed concern over how the district handled agency credit cards and said in 2024 it didn't properly advertise its annual budget.

In its response to the audit report, the agency said it had addressed the concerns raised.