A couple of weeks before the trial of Jackson-based officials allegedly entangled in a federal bribery scheme begins, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens has both resigned from his post and entered into a guilty plea.
Owens was indicted in 2024 alongside former Jackson mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former city councilman Aaron Banks. The trio faced multiple charges, including conspiracy and bribery, with both Owens and Lumumba having a racketeering charge levied against them.
The DA’s plea change came Monday afternoon and follows a last-ditch effort to have his case thrown out. Back in May, U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III denied requests by both Owens and Lumumba to have their charges dismissed. He also denied motions to have the three defendants’ charges tried separately.
Owens is accused of taking more than $115,000 in bribes while enriching his elected colleagues to the tune of roughly $80,000 to steer a downtown convention center hotel development project in favor of FBI informants posing as real estate developers. Instead of Jackson getting a new hotel, federal authorities exposed a broader string of public corruption through bribes, private planes, strip clubs, and yachts, court records assert.
The trial for the officials is set to begin at the federal courthouse in Jackson on July 13. Owens will no longer face a jury for the multitude of charges he faced now that he’s pleaded guilty to conspiracy, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years and a fine of up to $250,000. Both Lumumba and Banks will still face a jury, unless they change their pleas before.
“While it hurts beyond measure to step away from a position I love, I believe this decision is what is best for me, my family, and the District Attorney’s Office,” Owens said in a lengthy social media post announcing his resignation. “I leave knowing the office is filled with talented, dedicated public servants who will continue the important work of protecting our community.”
As the legal process has played out in this case, Lumumba and company have alleged political prosecution and shoddy investigative practices by the FBI. Others involved in the scandal include former Jackson city councilwoman Angelique Lee and businessman Sherik Marve Smith, who happens to be Owens’ cousin. Lee and Smith pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme in 2024.
This is a developing story.
