The mayor pleads not guilty to the charges and calls it “political persecution”

After announcing his indictment in a video statement Wednesday, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba pleaded not guilty to five felony charges related to his alleged role in the Jackson bribery scandal.

At 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Lumumba appeared at the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse to plead not guilty. He was joined by Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and District 6 Councilman Aaron Banks, who are also allegedly involved in the scandal. Owens and Banks also pleaded not guilty.

“My client challenges the sufficiency of the indictment,” said Thomas Bellinder, Lumumba’s attorney.

If convicted, Lumumba could face up to 70 years in prison and a fine of up to $1.5 million.

In his video statement, Lumumba called the accusations “political persecution”. Then it was written:

“People of Jackson, it is with great disappointment that I stand before you. My legal team has informed me that federal prosecutors have in fact charged me with bribery and related charges. To be clear, I have never taken any bribes. As mayor, I have always acted in the best interests of the citizens of Jackson. We believe that this is political persecution against me, aimed at destroying my reputation in society before the upcoming mayoral elections. Again, I’m disappointed, but I’m asking for patience and prayers during this process.”

Lumumba’s announcement came just over two weeks later he dodged questions about his involvement in the Jackson bribery scandal. During a press conference on October 21, Lumumba repeated to several questions the phrase “I have never conspired with anyone to commit a crime.” The mayor admitted that he repeatedly met with the second participant in the scandal, Sherik Marve Smith.

Lumumba, who is expected to appear in federal court Thursday, is the latest Jackson elected official to be embroiled in a bribery scandal, following former District 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee. Lee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in August after accepting bribes from two undercover FBI agents posing as Nashville real estate developers. A former councilwoman took bribes totaling nearly $20,000 in exchange for her vote in favor of a bogus undercover FBI real estate company for a city hotel project, as well as road closures for the project.

In court documents, the undercover FBI agents are known as “Person 1” and “Person 2.”

Lumumba is one of two elected Jackson officials implicated in the scandal. The second official, known only as “Unknown Conspirator B,” took bribes in exchange for votes in the company of undercover FBI agents, as Lee did, according to court documents. Ward 7 Councilwoman and Council President Virgie Lindsay previously confirmed that only a member of the Jackson City Council has the right to vote in favor of development projects.

The involvement of two more Jackson officials became known on October 17 when Smith, a local insurance specialist, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. Smith’s bill of information states that he and “unindicted co-conspirator A” agreed to make “cash payments and campaign contributions to unindicted co-conspirator B and unindicted co-conspirator C” from two undercover FBI agents posing as Nashville real estate developers. .

The indictment against Lumumba shows him to be an “unindicted co-conspirator in Conspiracy C.” All that is known about “Unindicted Conspirator A” is that they are residents of Hinds County.

On April 2, Lumumba ordered a city official to push back a deadline for the city’s long-sought hotel project across the street from the Jackson Convention Center, court documents show. Lumumba agreed to postpone the deadline after accepting $10,000 for his “re-election committee” on April 1, which he received as a check from Smith to conceal the true source of the funding — Nashville “developers.”

Lumumba called and ordered a city official, sitting in a private room on a yacht with Owens and undercover agents at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The indictment shows Lumumba sitting next to Owens on the phone.

After he ordered the employee, Lumumba allegedly received five checks for $10,000 as “campaign contributions.” In another photo, Lumumba is holding an envelope and talking to Owens. He later went to a local club with Owens and the agents, where Owens instructed the agents to give Lumumba cash to use at the club. Lumumba also allegedly told agents to pay club employees in cash for his benefit.

The city has been trying to build a hotel since the mid-2000s, according to earlier statements from Jackson spokeswoman Melissa Payne. The latest effort was on Jan. 31, when the city released a statement of qualifications (SOQ) for the project.

A total of three companies have bid on the SOQ, according to a public inquiry obtained by the Clarion Ledger in August. One of the companies is called Facility Solutions Team, which was created by Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens in March. Two months later, on May 22, Owens’ business and offices succumbed to the raid FBI who also visited Jackson City Hall.

After the raids, during a May 28 press conference, Lumumba said “I don’t have any information about the district attorney or anyone else.”

In a statement through his attorney released in August after Lee’s conviction, Owens said he had been meeting with out-of-town developers about “the possibility of building a convention center hotel in Jackson.”

“He believed them and after many conversations agreed to help them. It turns out they were FBI operatives,” Owens said in a statement. “Given the status of the investigation, I don’t think it’s appropriate to say anything more at this stage.”

Following Lee’s guilty plea, three Jackson City Council members, Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote, Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley and Ward 7 Councilman and Council President Virgie Lindsay, also said they were dating with out-of-town developers. Ward 4 Councilor Brian Grizzell said he met one developer in passing; Ward 3 Councilor Kenneth Stokes said he may have received calls. All denied taking bribes, and no one could verify whether they were the agents who bribed Lee. District 6 Councilman Aaron Banks did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the bribery scandal or the meeting with the developers.

What all of the individual councilor meetings have in common is that they were organized by DA Owens.

The president of the Jackson City Council issued a statement

Following Lumumba’s announcement, District 7 Councilwoman and Council President Virgie Lindsay provided a statement to the Clarion Ledger:

“As City Council President, I take the federal indictment of Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba with a sense of seriousness and responsibility,” Lindsay said.

“I intend to speak directly to the residents of the city of Jackson. I know you are patient, open, and responsive, especially in times of duress. I remind myself that the presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle. Thus, I will continue to focus on the work of our city council, and I hope that the legal system will work without unnecessary comments from you and our collective power to prosper.”

Will Lumumba resign?

Given Lumumba’s role in the bribery scandal, it is unclear whether he will step down as mayor, a post he has held since he was first elected in 2017. The mayor is at the end of his second term in office, which ends on July 1, 2025. .

Lumumba announced his intention to run for office in February the third term. he repeated it’s early October. But after Smith pleaded guilty on Oct. 17, the Clarion Ledger asked the mayor if the upcoming indictment would affect his plans to run for a third term. Lumumba was vague, referring only to a statement he made on October 21, “I have never conspired with anyone to commit a crime.”

A special election had already been held when Lee pleaded guilty in August. In October, Tina Clay was elected to Ward 2 on the council. Councilwoman Clay attended her first council meeting on Tuesday.

This article originally appeared on the Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Bribery scandal in MS: Ministry of Justice accused Mayor Jackson Lumumba of bribery