In a court hearing last week, three local leaders pleaded not guilty to a combined 17 federal felony charges in relation to the Jackson bribery scandal.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks were revealed to be the three other alleged conspirators in the scandal that also included former Ward 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee, who pleaded guilty to bribery earlier this year.
The charges come after FBI agents, who posed as Nashville real estate developers, worked for months on an undercover sting, faking an interest on the city’s long sought-after convention center hotel. The city released a statement of qualifications, or SOQ, for the project on Jan. 31.
The agents, with the help of Owens and his associate, Sherik Marve’ Smith, a local insurance specialist, allegedly facilitated bribes to Lumumba and Banks in an effort to win the city’s SOQ for the hotel development, according to the indictment.
The agents also bribed former Lee, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in August. Smith pleaded guilty to the same charge for his role just over two weeks before Lumumba, Owens and Banks’ court hearing.