The Mississippi Bar is asking the state Supreme Court to immediately prohibit former Jackson mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba from practicing law in light of his guilty plea in a federal bribery scandal.
Lumumba, who served two terms as mayor of Mississippi’s capital, is an attorney by trade and was admitted to practice in the state in 2008. But now that he awaits sentencing connected to his alleged role in taking bribes from undercover FBI informants to give favorable treatment to a proposed downtown convention center hotel project, the Mississippi Bar is looking to prohibit him from representing clients in court.
“The Bar requests that Chokwe Antar Lumumba be immediately suspended from the practice of law in the State of Mississippi, with all costs and expenses associated with the filing and litigation of this Formal Complaint being taxed against Respondent,” a portion of the filing reads. “The Bar further requests other such relief as the Court deems proper.”
The request from the Mississippi Bar follows a similar one the Supreme Court received on June 6 relating to former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who is entangled in the same public corruption case as Lumumba. The two men were indicted in 2024 alongside former Jackson city councilman Aaron Banks.
Owens, Lumumba, and Banks initially pleaded not guilty to the charges levied against them and were scheduled to stand trial on July 13. Before further court proceedings could happen, however, Owens both entered a plea agreement on a conspiracy charge and announced his resignation on June 29. Lumumba and Banks followed with plea agreements a week later.
Each of the former elected officials faces up to five years imprisonment, $250,000 in fines, and time on probation related to the federal conspiracy charge they face. All three men are set to be sentenced on Oct.15. As for Lumumba’s legal practice, he is likely to be disbarred in Mississippi. But that decision will be left up to the state Supreme Court, which holds the exclusive authority to suspend or disbar attorneys from practicing law.
