Mississippi District Attorney Mayor and Council member were charged with bribery and corruption.
Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens II, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, and former President and current member of the Jackson City Council Aaron Banks, were all the subject of an indictment that was unsealed in the Southern District of Mississippi.
U.S. Magistrate Judge LaKeysha Greer Isaac oversaw the case of Owens II, Antar Lumumba, and Banks, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated.
Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division said of the case, “No one is above the law, and the FBI is committed to ensuring that those who cross the line and violate the public’s trust are held accountable for their unlawful actions.”
Mississippi trio charged for bribery and corruption
Between October 2023 and May 2024, it was alleged that Owens paid bribes to public officials in Jackson on behalf of two FBI undercover employees posing as real estate developers. The FBI states that Owens exchanged $115,000 and promised future financial benefits for the bribed individual’s cooperation.
Owens instructed the undercover agents that certain public officials in Jackson needed support and that they could be coerced into making certain arrangements through bribes and other payments.
The Justice Department report names the public officials: “Mayor Lumumba, Councilman Banks, and former Jackson City Councilwoman Angelique Lee. Owens instructed the Developers how much, where, and when to bribe those officials.”
Mayor Lumumba accepted a $50,000 bribe, Councilman Banks solicited a $50,000 bribe and Former Councilwoman Lee allegedly accepted a $10,000 debt repayment.
Owens has been charged with conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, honest services wire fraud, and money laundering. Lumumba is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, honest services wire fraud, and money laundering. Banks is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, honest services wire fraud, and money laundering.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said, “Officials who abuse their positions of authority to enrich themselves undermine public confidence in government. The Justice Department is committed to restoring that confidence by working with its law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute public corruption.”
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