JACKSON, Miss. — Just one week before they were scheduled to stand trial, the former mayor of Mississippi’s capital city and the former city council president both entered guilty pleas in a bribery conspiracy case.
Former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks each pleaded guilty Monday to a single count of conspiracy. Their pleas followed those of Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who pleaded guilty the previous week and subsequently resigned from office. All three individuals are Democrats.
Two additional defendants — Angelique Lee, the former Democratic vice president of the Jackson City Council, and Sherik Marve Smith, a businessman and relative of Owens — had already entered guilty pleas on bribery charges prior to Monday’s proceedings.
According to a November 2024 indictment, Owens accepted a minimum of $115,000 from two FBI agents who were undercover and posing as real estate developers. The indictment further alleged that Owens facilitated more than $80,000 in bribe payments to Banks, Lumumba, and Lee in return for their assistance in approving a development project.
Lumumba, Banks, and Owens each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison. All three are scheduled to be sentenced on October 15.
Lumumba, who had previously described the charges against him as a politically motivated prosecution, was defeated in his reelection campaign last year. His legal team did not respond to requests for comment.
The National Conference of Black Lawyers, which has stood by Lumumba throughout the legal proceedings, has questioned whether federal investigators and prosecutors unfairly targeted Black elected officials in this case.
Mawuli Davis, an attorney with the organization, expressed that skepticism directly: “Our history tells us that it is necessary for us to have a very healthy skepticism about who, how and why certain people, certain geographical areas are focused upon. We’ve never not been targeted.”
Davis added that the organization plans to be present at Lumumba’s sentencing hearing and will urge the judge to take into account the contributions Lumumba has made to his community. An attorney for Banks declined to offer any comment on the matter.
