A Louisiana official is under investigation for allegedly getting $780,000 to buy a house and jobs for his children from an organization to which he helped award a contract from the state, documents show.
Johnny Adams, an assistant commissioner in the Office of Conservation in the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, is named in a search warrant accusing him of malfeasance in office that says he "used his position to influence" an agreement with the Louisiana Oilfield Restoration Association and later benefited financially.
Adams is the husband of East Baton Rouge Metro Council member for District 11, Laurie Adams, who was elected to office in 2020. Neither Laurie nor Johnny Adams responded to requests for comment.
DENR spokesperson Patrick Courreges said Johnny Adams was placed on administrative leave with pay after agency leaders learned of the allegations through media reports.
In 2019, while Johnny Adams was an attorney supervisor for the office, it entered a cooperative endeavor agreement with the Louisiana Oilfield Restoration Association to provide financial security to oil well operators, the warrant says. The contract was part of the state's effort to address "orphan wells," which are abandoned wells that are potentially dangerous without costly procedures to cap them.
The agreement put LORA in charge of collecting fees from the operators. In turn, it was responsible for paying to cap wells if a company went bankrupt or was otherwise unable to finish the job.
Johnny Adams notarized the agreement, and Laurie Adams signed it as a witness, the warrant says.
LORA was registered with the Secretary of State's office in September 2019, two months before the agreement was signed, the warrant says. And it notes that the organization is "neither a state nor a federally regulated financial institution and does not qualify as a financial institution under state or federal law."
The agreement allowed LORA to spend 20% of the fees it collected from companies on administrative expenses. But in 2022, that amount increased to 36% — without written consent from the state, the warrant says.
After that happened, LORA's owners received pay increases ranging from 32% to 369%, investigators said. And the Adams' two adult children, William Adams and Laura Beth Adams, began employment at two companies under the same ownership as LORA.
In April 2023, LORA officials withdrew $780,000 from its bank account. That same month, Johnny and Laurie Adams bought a house on Oakbrook Drive in Baton Rouge for $780,000, with no mortgage, the document says.
They later took out a $624,000 mortgage on the property, five months after closing, investigators said.
"The evidence suggests Mr. Adams used his position to influence the OC's selection of LORA, which financially benefitted LORA's owners," the warrant says. "In return, it appears LORA's owners hired his children as employees and, later, as contractors through two companies sharing ownership with LORA; and provided funds to Mr. Adams to purchase his personal residence."
The warrant says that, as of April 2024, LORA had more than $160 million in liabilities and about $5 million in reserves.
Courreges noted the allegations involve actions under a previous administration. He said Johnny Adams will remain on leave while the department waits for more information from the investigation.
"To date, there's been no formal communication with the DENR or Office of Conservation about that warrant, the exact nature of the investigation, the type, number or severity of any charges that may or may not be filed in the future," Courreges said.
Karen Rowley, spokesperson for Legislative Auditor's office said "No report has been released yet. The audit work is ongoing."
This is a developing story.