Jackson Jambalaya

 JPD arrested Ibrahim Khoder this week and charged him with committing perjury in the Hotel O case.  

Hotel O. More pictures posted below.

Jackson Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Reynolds has been trying to shut down and demolish the dilapidated Hotel O on I-55N for over a year as Khoder and Noah Muthana played shell games in his court.  

Khoder testified at a December 16, 2022 hearing before Judge Reynolds that he was not the owner of the property.  Indeed,  Hinds County property records state Ibrahim Khoder owned the property from 2002 to 2020.  He repeatedly did not pay taxes and only paid them due to a Sheriff's sale.  The records state Muthana assumed ownership of the property in 2021 although he has not paid any property taxes for 2021 and 2022.   

Khoder produced a quitclaim deed at the hearing showing he transferred ownership of the property to Muthana.  He told the Court he was only the "mortgage-holder" of the property.  He said he no longer owned the property and merely provided financing to Muthana, the so-called buyer.  

However, Khoder told a different story in Hinds County Chancery Court.  Khoder filed an emergency petition for a restraining order against the city of Jackson on April 17, 2023 in Chancery Court.  Khoder stated several times in the petition he is the owner of the property.  Attorney Carlos Tanner represented Khoder.    The petition states: 

The Amended Order is void and cannot be enforced because it was entered without citation, summons, or legal notice of any kind to, or process against, Mr. Ibrahim Khoder, the Property's owner and securitized mortgage holder. As such, the Amended Order is a classical taking without due process of law....

Court. However, the City never issued any citation, summons, or notice whatsoever to Petitioner Khoder - the Property's owner and majority stakeholder - for a court case alleging violations against him.

10. Each of the citation the City issued with respect to this property were addressed Petitioner Muthana. Mr. Muthana has a minority equity stake or ownership interest in the Property....

There are more such examples in the petition. It is posted below.   

 JPD investigated and charged Khoder with perjury.  The defendant surrendered and posted a $25,000 bond.  He is 75 years old.  Attorney Ali Shamsid-Deen represents the defendant in the criminal case.   

Muthana has owned Hotel O for more than two years. Jackson Code Enforcement cited Muthana for six code violations in June 2022. Jackson Municipal Court Judge Jeff Reynolds condemned the hotel after finding it had unsafe electrical wiring, defective plumbing, pervasive mold, structural weaknesses, and the roof was in a serious state of disrepair. Residency-challenged individuals occupied the building even though there was no power. However, one should never underestimate human ingenuity, even among such people. The squatters simply ran extension cords to outlets on adjacent properties. 

Judge Reynolds threw Muthana in jail after determining he made no effort to improve the property. He said the property was in worse shape than when the city began investigating the property in November 2021. 

The defendant sat in jail for a few days before Judge Reynolds released him. Judge Reynolds ordered JPD to evict all "tenants" from the premises. The judge told Code Enforcement to ensure a secure fence surrounded the pool. Judge Reyonlds ordered Muthana to post a $275,000 secured appearance bond and $2,500 cost bond if he wanted to appeal the order. 

Muthana appealed to Hinds County Court, arguing the appearance bond was unconstitutional. He paid the $2,500 cost bond.

Judge McDaniels never got around to questioning the demolition order because he dismissed Muthana's appeal on August 31, ruling the defendant appealed the case four months after the thirty-day deadline expired in April. However, Muthana did not take his ass-whupping like a man but instead filed a notice of appeal on September 11. The notice states the defendant will appeal the decision to Hinds County Circuit Court. 

The city filed a motion to dismiss (see, it knows how to do it after all!) on December 1. The motion argues the Court should dismiss any Muthana appeal since he did not post the $275,000 appearance bond nor did he file his notice of appeal within thirty days of the lower court's decision.Earlier post. 

As Muthana drags out the court fight, the building crumbles. A fire took place several months ago. Rooms are burned out and plywood covers numerous windows. The building has been the scene of numerous crimes over the years, including shootings and aggravated assaults. 

Judge Reynolds scheduled a hearing on January 10, 2024 after Judge McDaniels remanded the case back to his court. His interim order makes clear his disgust with the hotel and its owner: 

In the meantime, while the Defendant games the legal system with meritless appeals, his dangerous eyesore of a Hotel continues to exist and be occupied. The undersigned passes by the shuttered Hotel nearly every day and sees it bustling with people, with multiple cars in the parking lot. A small child was seen recently playing with his toy at the Hotel. And, despite the Fire Marshall shutting the Hotel down as a fire hazard and part of the Hotel, in fact, burning a few months ago, people still live in the Hotel.
Undersigned also strongly believes, based on the testimony in this case, his observations, and experience as a Municipal Judge, that other illegal activity, like prostitution and illegal drug use/sales, is taking place at the Hotel on a daily basis.
This dangerous public nuisance must end.

However, neither Muthana nor his lawyers, Carlos Tanner or John Hall, appeared in court that day.  A frustrated Court issued an arrest warrant for Muthana.  Muthana has not yet been taken into custody.  

Although Muthana filed a notice of appeal, he never actually filed an appeal in Circuit Court.