With the plea bargains of former Jackson mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County district attorney Jody Owens and Jackson city councilman Aaron Banks, one of Mississippi’s greatest public official corruption scandals comes to an end.
The plea bargains came a week before their joint trial was to begin. Owens was the first to break ranks on June 29. Lumumba and Banks pled a week later.
Two other co-conspirators pled in 2024—Ward 2 city councilman Angelique Lee and businessman Sherik Smith. All told, a combined $190,000 in bribes passed through the defendants' hands.
Angelique Lee used an FBI credit card at a luxury boutique to buy Valentino wedge sandals, a Christian Louboutin tote bag, and Golden Goose sneakers.
Lumumba's campaign account had a balance of just $465.30 before he deposited the $50,000 in disguised developer checks.
When federal agents raided Owens’ office, they found $9,900 of the agents' marked cash hidden inside a hollowed-out book titled "The Constitution of the United States of America."
By pleading, Lumumba and Owens will face one to five years in prison, compared to a maximum of more than 75 years if they stood trial and lost.
Angelique Lee and Sherik Smith have yet to serve time. Their sentencing was paused until the conclusion of the Lumumba, Owens and Banks trial. They could face up to five years as well, but their sentencing dates have yet to be set.
Lumumba, Banks and Owens are scheduled to be sentenced October 15, 2026, by U. S. District Judge Daniel Jordan III.
It’s curious why Lumumba, Banks and Owens waited two years to plead. No telling how much in legal fees they now owe.
A trial would have revealed more evidence that may or may not be released in the future. But the 40-plus page indictment contained the meat of the allegations as well as the pre-trial motions.
Most shocking were the recorded comments by Owens. He sounded like the worst possible type of gangster thug. This was shocking to people who knew and respected him. It seemed like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Lumumba and Owens will both almost certainly be disbarred.
Owens' wife is a high-risk obstetrics specialist. If she stands by him, that will help Owens get back on his feet. Lumumba’s wife is an accomplished academic professional, serving as a JSU professor and chair of the English and modern languages department.
Some of my friends are gleeful about seeing these people plead guilty and face prison. Not me. I just think, “There but for the grace of God go I.” I would make a lousy judge. I would get stuck on, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”
One of the most fundamental aspects of being a Presbyterian is acknowledging the primacy of original sin. We call it “the total depravity of man.” We are all hopeless sinners. Every one of us. No exceptions. To deny this is to ignore reality. You just haven’t looked objectively and deeply into your own character.
Don’t get me wrong. I support the FBI in its efforts to battle public corruption. It has to be done. Law and order is a fundamental component to a free and prosperous nation. But it still makes me sad, not gleeful, when I see successful men fall and pay the inevitable price.
My prayer is that these men find redemption and go on to live productive lives after they pay their price to society. God forgives us. We must forgive others. This should be true in all our relationships whether the crime is petty or grand.
In some countries such as India and Mexico, public corruption is rampant. It’s just a part of day-to-day life. Want a passport? You’ve got to pay off the right public official. Want a building permit? Same thing.
Not so in the United States, thanks to our vigilant efforts to battle public corruption. Even so, corruption is entrenched, one way or another, in every government. It is a universal. It’s just a matter of manner and degree.
There’s another big corruption scandal that has been ongoing—the $77 million TANF scandal. Former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, John Davis, is currently serving time after pleading guilty and receiving a 32-year state sentence. Six others have pled and are awaiting sentencing.
Ironically, it was Owens, as Hinds County DA, who announced Davis’ guilty plea in 2022 just four years before he pled guilty last week. As the song goes, “the people you abuse on the way up, you might meet up, on the way back down.”
The $77 million involved in the state TANF scandal makes the $190,000 in the Jackson scandal look like spare change.
The difference is subtlety. The Jackson bribes were much more blatant and involved hidden cash. The TANF money was subtle and involved “misappropriation” of government funds. More of a gray area.
So it is with big-time white-collar corruption in the United States. The bribes are much more sophisticated. The money is processed more carefully. The tracks are better hidden. But it happens all the time.
This is the argument that Lumumba’s remaining radical fringe takes. Lumumba and Owens, being black, were targeted for small-time bribes while massively greater white-collar bribes are swept under the rug. Maybe so.
But that doesn’t change the fact that these men and women had a choice and fell into temptation. They got caught and they will pay a price, a morality tale from which others can watch and learn.
It bears remembering that much of this investigation occurred under the reign of U.S. Attorney Todd Gee, a Biden appointee. You can’t say this was a vengeful act by Republicans.
It’s well known Owens and Lumumba didn’t kiss the brass rings of other power Mississippi Democrats. Republicans hated Lumumba’s radicalism. That left them both particularly exposed, especially when the water crisis, the garbage crisis, the murder crisis and general incompetence caused a public outcry.
Was the Owens-Lumumba corruption massive? Were they running the drug trade? Protecting the drug lords for cash? Was this their modus operandi from the get-go? Or were they just stupid, innocent fools entrapped by what should have been an obvious FBI sting operation. Were they corrupt to the bone or did they just make one bad mistake?
There are some answers that we’ll never know.
