BATON ROUGE — A grand jury indicted the former head of the region’s groundwater commission, an assistant director 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…