Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens pleads guilty to conspiracy
By Molly Minta | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens pleaded guilty Monday to a federal conspiracy charge, two weeks before he was set to go on trial in a case stemming from an FBI operation aimed at exposing public corruption in Mississippi’s capital city.
Owens will resign as the top prosecutor for Mississippi’s largest county, effective Wednesday.
“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 wrote on social media. “I leave knowing the office is filled with talented, dedicated public servants who will continue the important work of protecting our community.”
Former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Council Member Aaron Banks are still facing charges in the case. A federal grand jury indicted the three men in 2024, and their trial was set to begin July 13.
Beginning as early as 2023, undercover FBI agents posed as real estate developers seeking to build a convention center hotel in downtown Jackson on a plot of land the city had previously obtained a federal loan to develop.
The agents enlisted an unsuspecting Owens to connect them to powerful Jacksonians, including Banks and Lumumba. The indictment alleges Owens made payments on behalf of the developers to the politicians in exchange for their help advancing the proposal.
The lengthy charging document heavily quoted secretly-recorded statements from Owens, in which the district attorney bantered about using his private businesses to “clean the money.” Owens had argued that the government was overemphasizing “drunken, locker room banter” and maintained his innocence for over a year. The indictment contained few statements from Lumumba, who is still set to face trial next month.
State law says the governor will call an election to fill the office of a district attorney who has resigned. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves will make an emergency appointment to fill the vacancy until an election is held. Owens, a Democrat, was first elected district attorney in 2019, and his current four-year term expires in January 2028.
The only bribes that the indictment charges Lumumba with taking are campaign contributions. While on a yacht off the coast of Florida, Lumumba allegedly discussed the payment from the developers, facilitated through Owens, and then placed a call asking a city employee to shorten a bid window for the hotel development, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors allege Banks took cash bribes in exchange for a future vote on the development, but the city never selected a winning bid and the vote did not come to fruition.
Two people have already pleaded guilty in the scheme: Another former City Council member, Angelique Lee, and Owens’ cousin and associate, Sherik “Marve” Smith.
Mississippi Today reporters Anna Wolfe and Katherine Lin contributed to this report.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
