Embattled former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens can no longer practice law in the state of Mississippi.
Though Owens surrendered his legal license earlier this month, the Mississippi Supreme Court formally disbarred him on Wednesday. The ex-district attorney currently awaits sentencing connected to his role in a federal bribery scandal that included former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former City Councilman Aaron Banks. All three men are set to appear in court on Oct. 15 and face up to five years in prison, $250,000 in fines, and probation.
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The three men initially pleaded not guilty to the charges against them but ultimately reached plea agreements ahead of a scheduled trial on July 13.
Owens, Lumumba, and Banks, along with former Jackson City Councilwoman Angelique Lee and businessman Sherik Marve Smith, are alleged to have given favorable consideration to the informants’ downtown convention center hotel project in exchange for bribes.
Instead of Jackson getting a new hotel, however, federal authorities exposed a broader string of public corruption through bribes, private planes, strip clubs, and yachts, court records assert.
As for Owens, his disbarring is permanent. The Mississippi Bar has also gone to the Supreme Court to have Lumumba disbarred. In Mississippi, the Supreme Court holds exclusive authority to suspend or disbar attorneys from practicing law.
