Bribery charges brought against Mississippi mayor, prosecutor and council member

JACKSON, ma’am. — The mayor of the capital of MississippiThe top prosecutor in the state’s largest county and a member of the Jackson City Council have been indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges in a case that has already led to the resignation of another council member, according to federal court documents filed Thursday have been released.

The charges against Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Councilman Aaron B. Banks were filed after two people working for the FBI posed as real estate developers seeking to build a hotel near the convention center in downtown Jackson and provided payments to officials, including $50,000 for the mayor’s re-election campaign, according to court documents.

Lumumba, Jody Owens and Banks each pleaded not guilty Thursday during an appearance before a magistrate judge, with supporters of the mayor filling the small courtroom. The three men remain free pending trial.

Outside the courthouse, Lumumba said he is grateful to people who have reached out to him locally, nationally and internationally.

“I am not guilty, so I will not act as a guilty man,” Lumumba said. “I will continue to handle the affairs of the city of Jackson while my attorneys continue to handle the matters of these legal proceedings.”

The mayor released a video statement Wednesday saying the charges are a “political persecution” aimed at damaging his 2025 re-election campaign. He also said: “I have never accepted bribes of any kind.”

Owens told reporters outside the courthouse Thursday that the indictment is “a terrible example of a flawed FBI investigation” and “an assassination attempt on my character.”

“We believe the truth needs to be exposed: that sophisticated statements about drunken locker room jokes are not a crime,” Owens said. He said he will fight the charges, “but now I’m going to get back to protecting Hinds County and being the prosecutor you elected us to be.”

Banks declined to speak to reporters as he left the courthouse.

Lumumba and Banks were elected in mid-2017. Owens was elected in 2019 and took office in 2020. All three are Democrats.

Member of the Jackson City Council Angelique Leea Democrat, first elected in 2020, resigned in August and pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges as a result of the same FBI investigation. Her sentencing is scheduled for November 13.

In May, FBI agents raided Owens’ office and a cigar bar he owns in downtown Jackson. Among the items found in the district attorney’s office was a key box that looked like a book labeled the U.S. Constitution, containing approximately $20,000 in cash, with approximately $9,900 showing serial numbers confirming it had been used by the alleged developers had been paid to Owens, according to the recently unsealed indictment.

Owens boasted to the alleged developers that he had influence over Jackson officials and “facilitated more than $80,000 in bribes” to Lumumba, Banks and Lee in exchange for their agreement to guarantee approval of the multimillion-dollar downtown development, the indictment said.

The document also says Owens solicited and accepted “at least $115,000 in cash and promises of future financial benefits” from the alleged developers to leverage his relationships with Lumumba, Banks and Lee and act as an intermediary for the payments to them .

Lumumba instructed a city employee to push back a deadline in favor of the alleged developers’ project, and Banks and Lee agreed to vote in favor, according to the indictment unsealed Thursday.

Sherik Marve Smith — an insurance broker and relative of Owens, according to court documents — waived the charge and pleaded guilty Oct. 17 to a federal bribery charge. He agreed to forfeit $20,000, and his sentencing is set for February 19.

Smith conspired to give cash payments and campaign contributions to two Jackson elected officials, and the money came from the alleged developers working for the FBI, according to court documents.

Owens, Lumumba, Smith and the alleged developers traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on a private jet paid for by the FBI in April, according to the newly unsealed indictment.

During a meeting on a yacht that was audio and video recorded, Lumumba received five campaign checks for $10,000 each, and he called a city of Jackson employee and instructed that person to set a deadline for submitting proposals to purchase the property to be developed near the conference center. , the complaint said.

The deadline was pushed back in a way to benefit alleged developers working for the FBI by likely eliminating their competition, the indictment said.