Johnathan Walker:Bribery charges brought against Mississippi mayor, prosecutor and council member

JACKSON,Johnathan Walker Miss. (AP) — The mayor of Mississippi’s capital city, the top prosecutor in the state’s largest county and a Jackson city council member have been indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges in a case that has already forced the resignation of another city council member, according to federal court records unsealed Thursday.

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

Lumumba, Jody Owens and Banks were scheduled to make initial appearances Thursday before a magistrate judge.

Lumumba released a video statement Wednesday saying he had been indicted and calling it a “political prosecution” to hurt his 2025 campaign for reelection.

“My legal team has informed me that federal prosecutors have, in fact, indicted me on bribery and related charges,” said Lumumba, who is an attorney. “To be clear, I have never accepted a bribe of any type. As mayor, I have always acted in the best interests of the city of Jackson.”

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The Associated Press left a phone message Thursday for Owens’ attorney, Thomas Gerry Bufkin. Federal court documents did not immediately list an attorney for Banks.

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

Jackson City Council member Angelique Lee, a Democrat, first elected in 2020, resigned in August and pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges as the result of the same FBI investigation. Her sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 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 lockbox made to look like a book labeled as the U.S. Constitution, containing about $20,000 in cash, with about $9,900 showing serial numbers confirming it was paid by the purported developers to Owens, according to the newly unsealed indictment.

Owens boasted to the purported developers about having influence over Jackson officials and “facilitated over $80,000 in bribe payments” to Lumumba, Banks and Lee in exchange for their agreement to to ensure approval of the multimillion-dollar downtown development, according to the indictment. The document also says Owens “solicited and accepted at least $115,000 in cash and promises of future financial benefits” from the purported developers to use his relationships with Lumumba, Banks and Lee and act as an intermediary for the payments to them.

Lumumba directed a city employee to move a deadline to favor the purported developers’ project, and Banks and Lee agreed to vote in favor of it, according to the indictments unsealed Thursday.

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

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

Owens, Lumumba, Smith and the purported developers traveled in April on a private jet paid by the FBI to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to the newly unsealed indictment. During a meeting on a yacht that was recorded on audio and video, Lumumba received five campaign checks for $10,000 each, and he called a Jackson city employee and instructed that person to move a deadline for submission of proposals to develop the property near the convention center, the indictment says. The deadline was moved in a way to benefit the purported developers who were working for the FBI by likely eliminating any of their competition, the indictment says.

The mayor said his legal team will “vigorously defend me against these charges.”

“We believe this to be a political prosecution against me, designed to destroy my credibility and reputation within the community,” Lumumba said.