BATON ROUGE — The arrest of the former chief administrative officer of the Capital Area Transit System came after federal agents began looking into bribery allegations, according to newly obtained court documents.
Pearlina Thomas, CATS’ former CAO, was indicted for criminal conspiracy, theft over $25,000, prohibited use of public funds, and malfeasance in office. Jarion “Jay” Colar was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for criminal conspiracy and theft over $25,000.
According to the arrest warrants, Thomas approved a $50,000 contract to Jay Colar’s company, Supreme Solutions Consulting, without following the proper approval process. In addition, investigators say they found no evidence that the work Colar was contracted to do was performed, but they also uncovered that the work that was turned in was fraudulent and copied from a report written by a transportation expert in Canada…