Hinds prosecutor faces eight felony charges related to Jackson's bribery scheme; Mayor faces five

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Three local government officials implicated in a bribery scheme that led to the resignation of a Jackson City councilwoman are expected to make their first federal court appearance Thursday.

Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and Ward Six Councilman Aaron Banks are expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge LaKeysha Greer Isaac at 1:30 p.m. for their first Appear and hold the arraignment.

Filing information was posted on the federal court website Thursday morning, less than a day after Lumumba said in a video statement that he had been charged.

The indictments show that Owens faces eight federal charges, Lumumba faces five charges and Banks faces two charges.

Owen's charges include one count of conspiracy, three separate counts of federal program bribery, one count of using an intergovernmental facility to facilitate racketeering, honest services fraud, money laundering and making false statements.

Lumumba is charged with conspiracy, bribery under a federal program, use of an intergovernmental facility to facilitate racketeering, legitimate services fraud and money laundering.

The banks' charges include conspiracy and bribery in the federal program.

The federal program bribery allegations include accepting bribes in connection with a federally funded project.

The three were arraigned on October 23rd. Arrest warrants were issued for her on the same day.

The indictments allege that Owens worked on behalf of two people posing as real estate developers to solicit bribes from city officials in support of a convention center hotel project.

The developers are said to come from a Nashville company called Facilities Solutions Team.

The company was one of three companies that responded to Jackson's request for qualifications to build a convention center hotel earlier this year. Owens was listed as a co-developer in the company's response.

Owens is alleged to have facilitated over $80,000 in bribe payments to Banks, Lumumba and former Ward 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee in exchange for “their agreement to take official action to secure approval of the developers' multi-million dollar development project in downtown Jackson.”

Owens himself demanded and accepted at least $115,000 in cash and promised future financial benefits in order to “use his relationship with Banks, Lumumba and Lee to act as an intermediary for the … payments,” according to court documents.

In January, Banks demanded $50,000 in bribes in exchange for his vote on the project. A month later, on February 13, 2024, he received an initial payment of $10,000 through Owens, with Owens also promising employment and protective services to a family member.

Lumumba, meanwhile, allegedly accepted $50,000 in bribes in the form of five “campaign contribution checks totaling $10,000 from various organizations and individuals, including Owens and Smith.”

“Owens used the campaign contribution checks to conceal the true source of the funds, the developers, in order to avoid scrutiny from the public and law enforcement,” the indictment says.

We filed an open records request for Lumumba's campaign finance reports and were told no records existed. Lumumba later said during one of his media briefings on Monday that he has not filed campaign reports since 2022.

Owens was elected to his first term as district attorney in 2019. He was elected to his second term in 2023. Lumumba has been mayor of Jackson since 2017 and has stated multiple times that he is seeking re-election. Banks has also been on the city council since 2017. He most recently served as council president and led efforts to set the 2024-25 budget.

So far, two people have pleaded guilty: former Ward 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee and Jackson businessman Sherik Marve' Smith in connection with a plan to bring a convention center hotel to Jackson.

According to court documents, Lee accepted nearly $20,000 in cash and gifts in exchange for her support for a convention center hotel project planned in the capital.

The funds were provided to Lee by individuals posing as developers at Facility Solutions Team, a company based in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

The developers were confidential human informants for the FBI.

Smith, meanwhile, helped coordinate meetings between these confidential informants and city council members to solicit bribes.

Jody Owens was listed as a co-developer on the Facilities Solutions team, one of three companies that responded to Jackson's request for hotel development qualifications earlier this year.

Lee pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy in August and resigned from her position on the City Council.

Smith also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.

Both individuals face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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