Hinds DA facing eight felony counts in connection with Jackson bribery scheme; Mayor facing five

JACKSON, Miss. – Three local Jackson government officials tied to a bribery scheme that has led to the resignation of one Jackson City councilwoman are expected to make their initial appearance in federal court today.

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

Docket information was made available on the federal court’s website Thursday morning, less than a day after Lumumba said in a video statement that he had been indicted.

Indictments reveal Owens is facing eight federal counts, while Lumumba is facing five, and Banks is facing two counts.

Owens charges include one count of conspiracy, three separate counts of federal program bribery, one count of using an interstate facility in aid of racketeering, honest services wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements.

Lumumba is facing one conspiracy charge, a federal program bribery charge, use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering, honest services wire fraud, and money laundering.

Banks’ charges include conspiracy and federal program bribery.

Federal program bribery charges include accepting bribes in connection with a project funded used by federal funding.

The project in question would have included the construction of a convention center hotel on property the city purchased years ago using Housing and Urban Development dollars. As a condition of the loan the city used for the property, Jackson would re-lend the money to potential developers to purchase and develop the site.

The three were indicted on October 23. Orders for warrants for their arrests were issued the same day.

Indictments show that Owens worked on behalf of two individuals posing as real estate developers to solicit bribes from city officials in support of a convention center hotel project.

The developers were said to be from a firm called Facilities Solutions Team, out of Nashville.

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

Owens allegedly 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 ensure the approval of the developers’ multimillion-dollar downtown Jackson development project.”

Owens himself solicited and accepted at least $115,000 in cash and promises of future financial benefits to “use his relationship with Banks, Lumumba, and Lee to act as an intermediary for the… payments,” court records indicate.

In January, Banks asked for $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 via Owens, with Owens also promising employment to a family member and a protective detail service.

Lumumba, meanwhile, is said to have accepted $50,000 in bribes, in the form of five “$10,000 campaign-donation checks from various entities and individuals, including Owens and Smith.”

“Owens used the campaign-donation checks to disguise the true source of the funds, the developers, in an attempt to avoid scrutiny from the public and law enforcement,” the indictment states.

We filed an open record request for Lumumba’s campaign finance reports and were told no records existed. Lumumba later said during one of his Monday media briefings that he had 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 served as mayor of Jackson since 2017 and has said he is seeking re-election on multiple occasions. Likewise, Banks has been on the city council since 2017. He recently served as council president and led the efforts to set the 2024-25 budget.

So far, two people have entered guilty pleas: former Ward 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee and Jackson businessman Sherik Marve’ Smith in connection with a scheme 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 for the capital city.

The funds were given to Lee from individuals posing as developers with Facility Solutions Team, a firm out of Hendersonville, Tennessee.

The developers were confidential human informants for the FBI.

Smith, meanwhile, helped coordinate meetings between those confidential informants and city council members in an effort to solicit bribes.

Jody Owens was listed as a co-developer along Facilities Solutions Team, which was one of three companies that responded to Jackson’s request for qualifications for a hotel development earlier this year.

Lee pleaded guilty to one conspiracy to commit bribery in August and stepped down from her position on the city council.

Smith also pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count.

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

Indictments against Owens, Lumumba and Banks by aswarren77 on Scribd