JACKSON, Miss.—Seven years after sharing his aspirations to make Jackson, Miss., “the most radical city on the planet,” Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba stood in the center of a federal courtroom, facing criminal charges for what federal prosecutors allege was his part in a bribery scheme involving elected officials in Mississippi’s largest county.
The federal indictment, unsealed on Nov. 7, alleges that Lumumba accepted $50,000 in donations to his re-election campaign from two FBI agents posing as real-estate developers in exchange for using his power as an elected official to influence the RFQ (or request for statements of qualifications) process for a multi-million-dollar commercial development project.
Along with Lumumba—the son of community activist Nubia Lumumba and former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba–—he grand jury indicted Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Ward 6 Jackson City Councilman Aaron Banks.
At the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse on Nov. 7, Lumumba’s co-defendants and their attorneys joined him as they prepared to give their pleas.
The mayor—whose charges include conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering—exchanged words with his attorney, Thomas Bellinder, throughout the proceeding.
To Lumumba’s far left stood Banks, who prosecutors charged with conspiracy and bribery. To Lumumba’s right stood Owens, the man whom prosecutors allege led the scheme and whom they charged with several crimes including conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, racketeering, money laundering and making false statements.
While all three men pleaded “not guilty” to the various charges, Bellinder told the judge that his “client is challenging the sufficiency of the indictment.”
Conversations Filmed, Indictment Says
Federal prosecutors say that between October 2023 and May 2024, Mayor Lumumba, District Attorney Owens and Jackson City Council members Aaron Banks and Angelique Lee were enthralled in a plot to “carry out a bribery scheme to enrich themselves.”
While the indictment includes transcripts of recorded conversations between several of the officials, the text most frequently quotes Owens.
Prosecutors allege that Owens was “ready, willing, and predisposed to engage in bribery at least as early as October 16, 2023,” court documents say.
The indictment alleges that the district attorney, who in February 2020 announced the first arrests in Mississippi’s unrelated $77 million welfare scandal, orchestrated the scheme to bribe elected officials. The document alleges that he had several conversations with two purported real-estate developers who turned out to be undercover FBI agents before proposing the scheme to Lumumba and the council members.
The indictment describes an Oct. 16, 2023, conversation where Owens, alongside Jackson businessman Sherik Marve Smith, allegedly told the undercover agents that the pair “own enough of the city” and that Owens had “a bag of f-cking information on all the city councilmen” that allowed him to “get votes approved.”
That December, while on a yacht in Florida, the indictment alleges that the faux developers gave Owens $125,000 in cash to facilitate the scheme—money that would be split between himself, Smith and an unnamed witness.
Last month, Smith pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge.
The indictment alleges that during a Jan. 10, 2024, conversation with Owens, “The Developers expressed interest in obtaining the downtown development project for themselves and noted their desire to secure the long-term support of the City Council.”
On Jan. 11, 2024, the indictment alleges, “BANKS solicited a $50,000 bribe in exchange for his future vote(s) in favor of the Developers’ proposed development project.”
“On February 12, 2024, OWENS arranged a dinner for himself, LUMUMBA, Smith, and the Developers,” the indictment alleges. “During OWENS’s introduction of the Developers to LUMUMBA, OWENS stated: ‘I’ve done background checks. They’re not FBI by the way.’ OWENS also explained to LUMUMBA that the Developers ‘had shifted [their] focus to RFP/RFQ related to the convention area hotels.”
“On or about February 13, 2024, BANKS accepted an initial payment of $10,000 in cash from the Developers via OWENS, along with a promise of funding for the employment of a family member and a protective detail service,” the filing continues.
Three days later, prosecutors allege, Owens facilitated a $10,000 transfer from the developers to help Lee clear her campaign debt. She resigned from her position on the council and pleaded guilty to one federal bribery charge on Aug. 14, 2024.
Prosecutors Allege Lumumba Moved Deadline
After the initial meeting with Lumumba, page 11 of the indictment alleges that Owens “warned the Developers that they needed to be wary of attracting the attention of law enforcement and appearing like they were bribing public officials.”
In the court documents, prosecutors allege that Owens explained how he could “clean” the money. “I don’t give a shit where the money comes from. It can come from blood diamonds in Africa, I don’t give a f-cking sh-t,” the indictment alleges Owens told the developers after the Feb. 12 meeting with Lumumba.
“I’m a whole DA. F-ck that sh-t. My job, as I understand it, with a little paperwork, is to get this deal done, and get it done most effectively … We can take dope boy money, I don’t give a sh-t. But I need to clean it and spread it,” he continued.
The indictment alleges that the discussions culminated on April 2, 2024, when Owens, Lumumba and Smith traveled with the undercover agents to Florida where they discussed the development project proposal submission deadline.
“Developer 1 then asked LUMUMBA to have the RFQ submission deadline moved up from April 30, 2024, to April 10 or 15, 2024. LUMUMBA then placed a telephone call to a city employee in which he directed the city employee to move the RFQ submission deadline to April 15, 2024,” the indictment alleges.
Then, the indictment alleges, “Developer 2 handed five $10,000 checks to LUMUMBA in an envelope. OWENS then stated: ‘These checks are Mississippi checks but they’re from this group.’ LUMUMBA stated: ‘Okay.’”
“Following LUMUMBAs return to Jackson, Mississippi on or about April 4, 2024, the five $10,000 checks LUMUMBA received on April 2, 2024, from Developer 2 were deposited into LUMUMBA’s campaign bank account,” the indictment alleges.
“On or about April 5, 2024, a check in the amount of $9,500 was made payable to LUMUMBA from his campaign account. On or about April 8, 2024, a check in the amount of $5,000 was made payable to LUMUMBA from his ‘campaign account. Both checks were ultimately cashed,” the indictment continues.
The FBI raided Owens’ office and businesses on May 22.
They raided Lee’s home the same month.
All three men could face years in prison. Banks could see up to 15 years while Lumumba faces up to 70 years and Owens could see up to 90 years if convicted.
‘We Are Determined And Undeterred’
Mayor Lumumba and District Attorney Jody Owens stopped to speak with the media outside the Thad Cochran Courthouse following their arraignments on Nov. 7; Councilman Aaron Banks did not.
Those who had shown up to the courtroom in support of the mayor, including several members of his administration, huddled behind him as he shared a statement. His sister, activist and People’s Advocacy Institute Director Rukia Lumumba, stood by his side.
“As I indicated in this courtroom today, I am not guilty. So, I will not proceed as a guilty man,” said the mayor, who has previously denied any involvement in the conspiracy.
He said that he will “continue to handle the business of the City of Jackson while my attorneys continue to handle the business of these court proceedings.”
Although a legal fight looms, Rukia Lumumba says that her brother will not step down from his position as mayor.
“We are determined and undeterred. He is going to run for mayor, and he will continue the work of mayor, and he will be re-elected. He has done great things for Jackson,” she said.
She labeled the indictment “just an attack and an attempt to assassinate his character to prevent his re-election.”
“All of us that support him will be by his side,” she added.
After pleading “not guilty” to the charges, Owens dismissed the language attributed to him throughout the indictment as “drunken, locker room talk” and said that he believes federal prosecutors “cherry picked” certain statements to assassinate his character.
Magistrate Judge LaKeysha Greer Isaac set the trial for all three men for Jan. 6, 2025.
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