INDICTMENT POSTED BELOW!!!
D.A. bragged about dope money
$50,000 bribes allegedly laundered to Mayor
A federal grand jury indicted Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, and Jackson Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks on corruption charges on October 23.
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| Mayor allegedly calling to move RFQ deadline while on yacht |
The indictments remain sealed although U.S. District Magistrate Judge LaKeysha Greer Isaac ordered them to be unsealed this morning. The charges are:
Aaron Banks: conspiracy and bribery
Chokwe Antar Lumumba: Conspiracy, bribery, Use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering, honest services wire fraud, money laundering
Jody Owens, II: Conspiracy, bribery (3 counts), use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering, honest services fraud, money laundering.
The defendants will be arraigned at 1:30 in U.S. District Court. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Daniel Patrick Jordan, III and Magistrate Judge Isaac. Attorney Thomas Lufkin entered an appearance for Owens.
Note: It will take some time to read the 32-page indictment. This post will be updated with observations as I read through it. It is posted below for your convenience so you don't have to wait.
Highlights of the indictments:
* Banks "solicited a $50,000 bribe" in exchange for his vote on Owens and Smith's convention center hotel bid. Owens made an initial payment of $10,000 to Banks and promised to hire a relative. Banks' daughter works for the District Attorney.
* Owens "solicited" $80,000 in bribes for Banks, Lumumba, and former Ward 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee to get his convention center hotel bid approved. Owens and the "developers" paid off a $10,000 campaign debt for Lee and gave her $3,000 in cash. The undercover agents took Lee on a $6,000 shopping spree at luxury fashion stores.
* Owens accepted at least $115,000 in cash and "future financial benefits" from the developers.
The Connect
The story began in July 2023 when an undercover visited Owen's downtown cigar bar because the selection of fine tobacco was highly recommended to him. The undercover struck up a conversation with an employee and at some point said he was a developer interested in building a hotel for the convention center. The employee introduced the developer to Owens (allegedly).
Owens, Marve Smith, and "others" flew on a private jet to Nashville in October 2023 to meet with the "developers." The FBI paid for the private jet.
Owens allegedly bragged about his downtown power as he could get the deal done. Owens said he "Had a bag of fucking information on all the city councilman" he could use to get votes approved.
The District Attorney bragged to one undercover at his election night party that being D.A. was a "part-time job." The full-time job is developing. This is the part-time job, to get leverage for the full-time job." (#24)
Owens is a Travelin' Man
Owens and Smith met the developers the next day at his cigar bar in the "back room." The partners in crime "negotiated" an upfront payment of $250,000. The payment would be split between Owens ($100,000), Smith ($100,000), and Owens' employee ($50,000).
The Owens trio met with the undercovers in Fort Lauderdale in December. Once again, they flew on a private jet paid for by the FBI. Owens and the undercovers hammered out the terms of the bribes on a yacht. The "developers" gave Owens $125,000 in cash to split among him and his partners.
The District Attorney boasted in a moment of woeful candor "I'm not trying to overemphasize this, you guys, but my abilito to prosecute people, there's only one me. So right now, every police agency comes to us. Everybody needs something."
The War Room
Owens called his private office the "war room." He met the undercovers on January 10, 2024 in his fortress of solitude. Owens said the city would issue an RFQ for the hotel project. (#28)
The undercovers met with Owens, Smith, and Banks in the back room of the cigar bar. Owens promised to get $50,000 to Banks from the undercovers. Owens (allegedly) continued to brag about his bribing prowess to the agents:
We never give them the asking price. I buy pussy, I buy cars, I buy cows, I buy drugs, whatever. My point is, like [BANKS] need 50, you get 30. He gets installments. That's my game. Some people will overpay and say I'm the guy who needs more and some people will choose who to pay. He wants 50? We'll give him 15 this year and 15 next year.
Banks later told the undercovers he needed $50,000 as soon as possible when they asked what his price was.
Hooking Up Hizzoner
Owens introduced Lumumba to the developers at a dinner on February 12, 2024. Owens assured the Mayor "I've done background checks. They're not FBI by the way." (KF Note: Yes, Mr. Owens. A two-bit D.A. in Mississippi is going to get access to the identities of FBI undercovers. Um, who hasn't been a prosecutor or criminal defense lawyer?)
Owens later explained how things worked in his town to the agents:
I don't give a shit where the money comes from. It can come from blood diamonds in Africa, I don't give a fucking shit. I'm a whole DA. Fuck that shit. My job, as I understand it, with a little paperwork, is to get this deal done, and get it done most effectively ... We can take dope boy money, I don't give a shit. But I need to clean it and spread it. I can do it in here. That's why we have businesses. To clean the money. Right? I don't give a shit. You give us cash, we deposit it and give it back that way. That's easy.
The developers paid Owens (allegedly) another $60,000 in February in the back room. The payments were to be distributed $25,000 for Owens, $25,000 for Banks, and $10,000 for Lee. Owens shorted Banks and only gave him $10,000 when he arrived. Banks also demanded a protective detail (You can't make this up). The agents spent $1,500 on protection for Banks as well as $4,800 on the hiring of Banks' daughter.
Owens paid off Lee's $10,000 campaign debt to a local printer with laundered funds. He sold Lumumba's leverage at a meeting on February 28. Owens allegedly said if they did not get the Mayor on their side, he could hurt them through permits and the RFQ by "making it difficult."
Owens' Dope Money
This paragraph says it all:
Specifically, OWENS explained that because LUMUMBA would not take cash directly from the Developers, the Developers would need to give OWENS between $50,000 and $100,000 so that OWENS could deposit the cash and get "campaign contribution" checks with those funds from third parties in Mississippi. OWENS emphasized that if the Developers gave LUMUMBA $100,000 in cash, "then everybody goes to jail because we gave over five thousand cash." OWENS went on to say that he kept the money given to him by the Developers in a safe at the District Attorney's Office mixed in with "dope money and drug money and more than a million dollars." OWENS made clear that he did not keep large amounts of cash at home because that money could be directly linked to him, while money kept mixed in with other funds in the District Attorney's Office safe
could not be...
Moving the Deadline
Control of the RFQ process for the convention center hotel project was imperative of the District Attorney and his friends. The city extended the RFQ deadline from March 12 to April 30. Owens spoke to a city employee on speaker phone several times with an agent present. Owens texted Lumumba afterwards, stating the developers learned the deadline was extended and asked how to donate to his campaign. (Read #47)
Owens planned to hold a fund-raiser for the Mayor in Florida. He told the developers they would split up $50,000 in donations to the Mayor into checks of "$5,000 or $10,000." However, he said $50,000 was the beginning and "Lumumba's 'final number' was $100,000. Owens told the agent of the fund-raising plans.
Banks promised to help move back the deadline at a subsequent meeting.
Flying to Fort Lauderdale
Owens, Lumumba, Smith, and others flew on a private jet underwritten by the FBI. A meeting was held on a yacht. An undercover asked the Mayor (allegedly) to move the RFQ deadline from April 30 to April 10 or 15. Hizzoner called a city employee and directed the city employee to move the RFQ deadline to April 15. (KF Note: There is your benefit.)
The developer handed five $10,000 checks to Lumumba in an envelope. Owens said they are "Missisisppi checks but they're from this group." The Mayor replied "ok." (#57) The indictment states:
59. Developer 2 then directly asked LUMUMBA whether the RFQ submission deadline would in fact be moved up. LUMUMBA then checked his text messages and informed the Developers that the city employee he had called had confirmed that the RFQ submission deadline would be moved.
Owens later secured another $50,000 in bribe money.
The $50,000 in "campaign donations" appeared in Lumumba's campaign account on April 4. Lumumba (allegedly) in turn wrote himself a check for $9,500 from the campaign account. He wrote another check for $5,000 out of the campaign account on April 8. Federal law requires the reporting of transactions over $10,000. However, transactions just under the threshold can be considered suspicious activity.
The Strip Club
Since the deal was done, it was time to party and not just party but par-tay. The boyz all went to a strip club while in Florida. An agent allegedly gave Lumumba "and others" $5,000 to play with as you know, boyz will be boyz.
The Bust
The Feds pulled the plug on May 22 as they executed search warrants on Owens' offices. They discovered a lock box disguised as a book with $20,000 cash in his Hinds County office. The lockbox had $20,000. $9,900 was marked bills paid by the undercovers in December 2023.
The FBI also seized the phones of Banks, Lee, Smith, Owens, and Lumumba.
112 comments:
This week just keeps getting better and better.
I’d heard that Baby Chock was going to have eight counts, but I count only six
Chokee should resign IMMEDIATELY!!!
Drain the Jackson, MS swamp!
He won't resign - he's a narcissist.
9:50, that narcissist won't resign until he's thrown behind bars and even then he probably won't resign on his own. He's denying it and calling it racist and a political attack failing to mention it is the Biden/Harris administration's DOJ that's doing it.
I wonder how Melvin is doing these days? Considering Trump won, and his former boss/ mentor was indicted on the same day, I’d say probably not so good. That dude used to attack anyone on social media that criticized the mayor or Jackson city government. Hey Melvin, told ya so!
Russ Latino says Owens and Lumumba are pleading not guilty. They're going to pit a Jackson jury against the Federal prosecution rate. Not sure who will win that battle
It's fascinating to see how courageous you all are posting under "anonymous."
Federal jury drawn from all over the Southern district, not just jackson.
A terribly sad day for the citizens of Jackson Mississippi.
Why is Virgi making statements & not Melissa Payne?
I say Jody & Lumumba have a big fight going against Feds!
Owens, Banks and Lumumba got outed by the indictment, no need for them to be anonymous!
The indictment includes photos of Lumumba calling the City to postpone the RFQ date, Owens stuffing cash from a bag into his pockets. THEY ARE TOAST.
Back at you November 7, 2024 at 10:04 AM.
Lock 'em up!
Glad this has occurred under the Biden administration. So glad. Chokwe should plead guilty immediately & let Uncle Joe give him a full pardon in his last days of office. Then Chokwe can run again for mayor of Jackson.
holy Chit! I just read that whole indictment. Owens is a huge POS! He is hoodwinking Banks and others out of money and saying they doesn't need it all and he's keeping it. Banks should whip his ass just for that! This is pure gold.
Screw Harvard
Tweet, email the national media folks and famous folks. Embarrass Harvard for the crap they are.
we would face no consequences for posting our names because of that pesky free speech segment of our constitution. Not one poster here has said one word inflammatory or otherwise inappropriate.
None of this matters. The citizens of Jackson and Hinds County will just replace them with people just as corruptible and incompetent. The cycle will repeat.
Let's not forget in 2022 when Lumumba was accusing council members of getting bribes for votes on the garbage contract, and his campaign staff getting "IT" services from the company that won. Stokes said he went to the US Atty's Office.
@10:04. As you post anonymously. Lol. Pot, meet kettle.
Wrong is wrong....so these guys/girl are going down for pennies while Brett Favre and Phil Bryant will never be indicted for Millions. Smh
Now is the federal pen in Yazoo County part of the Republik of New Afrika and the Land of Kush or are we going to need to annex something like real quick so Chowke's life goal can be completed?
Amateurs. Back in the old days of Rankin and Hinds County corruption you never dealt directly with the man. You dealt with "go-betweens" and buffers who took the bribes and made the deals. Never deal directly with the perp. It's amateur hour. They go to jail for being stupid.
@10:31. Sadly, I agree. I don't see any candidate that can truly save Jackson. Whoever they select will be no better than DItto, Harvey Johnson, or Yarber.
This is starting to make EVERYTHING come into focus.
Why would the mayor be so protective over these issues like the Convention Center, Smith Wills, Richards Disposal and good gracious the Airport.
I bet if the Feds dug around in the airport they will find so much more corruption. The Mayor has been fighting the airport for years. I wonder why? Now it is making sense. He is so screwed.
ROTTEN TO THE CORE-
Holy crap! The DA was running wild. Not good for Hinds county,
10:42. It's funny that the Biden DOJ is going after minority, liberal, Democrat politicians but not Favre and Bryant. Could it be that there is not enough evidence there?? Please drop it.
This is incredible, Kingfish. Thank you for posting and staying on top of it.
The egos. I cant get past the egos. And you can't deny it, its your own words. And the pics. Can't deny that either.
Extremely interesting to me: "...so that OWENS could deposit the cash and get 'campaign contribution' checks with those funds from third parties in Mississippi." Oh please, please, expose those third parties. Can't even imagine the can of worms there.
Kingfish, thanks for the info on the jury (Federal jury drawn from all over the Southern district, not just jackson.) Say yet another thank God.
Police rolling lights flashing down Pearl right now and lots of them….all agencies
I wonder how Melvin is doing these days?
Melvin is small potatoes. (Play on words.) He and the missus are too busy scamming an extra Homestead Exemption for a measly $300. All public record by the way.
It’s probably a good time for Shad White to pen an addendum about his sidekick Jody Owens……
Folks, I present the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award.
"This award honors those under the age of 40 who are changing their communities and the country with their commitment to public service."
At least when it comes to Chokwe Antar Lumumba, "This will be the day the race card died".
A whole barrel of rotten apples.
Wondered why Banks had become so compliant with Lumumba's agenda.
That is probably why they took in an interest. They had something on them that is why they initiated the undercover work.
No joke, think the only person who gives a sht is Stokes! He couldn’t lie if he had to!
Two great days in a row. Drain the Jackson swamp with more DC swamp draining starting in January.
So what does ACLU stand for? A Criminal Loser Unleashed?
I am second generation in my house in Fondren. I have spent years wringing my hands at the thought of making plans to sell and move, buy another house this late in my life. This is huge and the City and County could be saved by getting the wrong people out and the new people in. These bastards have been living it up on my tax dollar while my water stopped flowing one morning, while the crime around me has mandated that I have a gun in my hand when I get into and out of my truck, and as I have sat here wanting to make improvements to my property while being afraid to invest one more dime than I have to.
I am only one of the citizens in Jackson that have been suffering through this. I hope on behalf of all of us, that these motherfuckers get scorched in court and go where they deserve to go.
Am I correct in reading through this indictment, DA Owens has been taking bribes from drug dealers?
November 7, 2024 at 10:11 AM
For the dopeboys and Lumumba sycophants maybe.
Just finished reading it. Incredible.
“Developer 2 handed five $10,000 checks to Lumumba in an envelope. Owens then stated, ‘These checks are Mississippi checks but they’re from this group’. Lumumba stated, “Okay.”
“Developer 2 then directly asked Lumumba whether the RFQ submission deadline would in fact be moved up. Lumumba then checked his text messages and informed the Developers that the city employee he had called had confirmed that the RFQ submission deadline would be moved.”
Checks deposited into campaign account. Checks written from campaign account to Lumumba and cashed.
The cash floating around---identified by the serial numbers.
Counts in indictment:
1 Conspiracy
2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 Federal Program Bribery
7 and 8 Use of an Interstate Facility in Aid of Racketeering, Travel Act
9 Honest Services Wire Fraud
10 Money Laundering
11 False Statements
With pictures and recordings. You just can't argue with those.
Its about time. Huge thanks to the feds for covering this and staying on top of it. Get this filth out of here. We've had them long enough.
11:16 AM, loved your comment. I can hear Stokes in my memory, talking about the drug boys. He nailed it.
Jackson is going to get a new Mayor. Period. He is done.
November 7, 2024 at 11:24 AM
That is indeed correct.
Glad this has occurred under the Biden administration. So glad. Chokwe should plead guilty immediately & let Uncle Joe give him a full pardon in his last days of office. Then Chokwe can run again for mayor of Jackson.
November 7, 2024 at 10:28 AM
I'm sure this is being Run By Uncle Benny...Yall have to admit, that is an Impressive List of Charges Aginst the Mayor. I'm Sure his Daddy Would be Proud...
Every large campaign contribution to Lumumba from the last two municipal cycles and any checks he wrote against the campaign account are now suspect.
Read this, from Mayor’s video:
“To be clear, I have never accepted a bribe of any type. As mayor, I have always acted in the best interest of the citizens of Jackson.”
Now read indictment and look at that picture.
No wonder Lumumba hasn’t filed any campaign finance reports since 2022.
Mr. Stokes for sainthood. Jackson is lucky to have him.
*** THIS !!! Yes agree!
Correct.
Chowke calling Bennie: "Bennie, you gots to call "the big guy" and gets me a pardon. Remember, I know where your skeletons are buried. Right?"
This wasn't Lumumba's first corruption, only the first time he's be caught. Time to investigate Rukia's shakedown operation that's been laundering its charitable contributions through a third party for a long, long time.
I can't decide is my favorite part is the DA telling the mayor they're not FBI, or the DA telling the FBI about how he's not going to wind up like Louis Armstrong.
It sounds like the Hinds County DA operates like an outright gangster, complicit with the mayor of the capital city. Buying women and drugs, taking drug money, presumably from gangs.
I can't imagine how rotten and entrenched this would become if they were allowed to operate for another 10 years. It would be like a comic-book Gotham City.
Garland was briefed on all this a long time ago. Who knows, maybe Cedric can help him out. Ha!
Anybody know what these guys handicap is?
Owens’ big mouth has been manna from Heaven to the FBI. He should have watched a few more mafia movies to learn how to practice a little discretion while undertaking criminal activities. I imagine this will also cause a lot of scrutiny of the cases Owens has/has not prosecuted.
As for Lumumba saying political prosecution, from Mag Tribute (formerly Yall Politics):
The prosecution is being overseen by Biden appointed U.S. Attorney Todd Gee. Prior to his appointed, Gee served as the Deputy Chief of the Public Integrity Section of the United States Department of Justice — essentially heading up public corruption cases.
When confirmed to his current role, Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) said of Gee:
“I have had the privilege of knowing Todd for a considerable amount of time, witnessing first-hand the maturation of a committed, brilliant legal mind. Having observed his journey, relentless pursuit of justice, and the development of his legal acumen, I can say with absolute certainty that Todd is the right person for this job. The Southern District of Mississippi is gaining a leader with not just expertise, but with a deep understanding and respect for the law and the community he is set to serve.”
10:42, seethe.
Vote Virgi Linday out.
Maybe, since the DA has bragged about the "dope money", the feds should come in and take a look into the local drug scene and the associated crimes that it brings to the city (car jacking, theft, murder, etc.) and take a swing at cleaning it up too.
“ I don't give a shit where the money comes from. It can come from blood diamonds in Africa,“. Translation I don’t care about black African slave labor just mo money, mo money, mo money.
what about the people the DA has prosecuted and put away? will their sentences be thrown out?
Ok….this shit is movie material. We need to get a producer here asap and film this crime scene and all the money can go to fix Jackson’s water and streets. Finally a solution!
Glad these crooks got busted. But the posters on JJ are right, we will just elect more of the same. Case in point, Pieter Teeuwissen didn't even make the runoff two days ago in his Hinds county judge race, while Jermal Clark gets re-elected as election commissioner. Its going to get worse before it gets better.
Well said. You are not the only one.
He's been running a criminal organization out of the DA's office. He needs to resign TODAY.
If Trump, Farve, the governor and that chick can get away with stuff, then let Lumumba make it! Did anyone seize that stadium at USM yet? Did Trump serve time? Hells no he got a promotion!
"Hand to hand with the man." What a dumb SOB Owens is. So, who will the little bitch Chowke rat out?
LMAO at the cope and seethe from Lumumba shills.
Owens has free access to $1mil in a safe at city hall that he has access that he can store personal funds in? Did anyone else catch that? I wonder if all of those funds are accounted for? That's insane if true!
We Need Stokes
Yes Sir, Yes Sir! Thank you Kingfish, the only reporter I trust with the truth.
In a statement to WLBT it's obvious that Virgi is still carrying Chowke's water.
Simple breakdown of what this is all about…drug, human, and sex trafficking.
We need the equivalent of Ted Henifin to take over the Mayor's office and hire people who will do their job. In general, we need the equivalent of putting Jackson in receivership unless the Legislature will do it officially.
Maybe Chowke has some dirt on her.
"None of this matters. The citizens of Jackson and Hinds County will just replace them with people just as corruptible and incompetent. The cycle will repeat."
Just like you jokers voting for the seditionist Donald Trump, LMAO!!!! Save the virtue signaling for your own ilk
I like it when a plan comes together.
The Presidential election, The Senate, The House(more than likely), the popular vote, the electoral college, all the swing states, and now Lumumba & Owens!
SO MUCH WINNING!!!
To the "I told you so's", Smoke 'em if you got 'em!!
I'd pay $100 to see Chowke and Owens doing a perp walk.
https://www.wlbt.com/livestream/
WLBT it livestreaming from the courthouse now.
Wow, they actually believed a successful developer would want to build a brand new hotel in Jackson! What a bunch of idiots!!
It’s disappointing to see what a crook Jody Owens really is. We all knew Chokwe was on the take, but Owens seemed to be doing a decent job. I guess he figured Robert Schuler Smith got away with it for so long that no one cared.
Melissa is sending out resumes.
Where is the City Council? Pass a resolution today asking the Mayor to resign!
This indictment is a great thing for the City of Jackson and its people. But those of you who are also celebrating Trump’s election should probably spend some time considering who pardoned Rod Blagojevich. Owens especially seems like someone Cadet Bone Spurs would warm up to.
Is “buy cows” slang for something or does he really buy actual cows?
Hey 1:02, Trump's pinky finger is smarter than Chokeway. The difference is that Trump cares about the country, while Chokeway doesn't give a damn about Jackson ! Close your eyes and see who is still in office 4 years from now.
Mr. Free The Land ✊🏼
Ha! I see Banks arrived without his new security detail.
11:04 for the best comment EVER on JJ
DEMOCRACY working as it should and it’s a great feeling! It will be a Merry Christmas this year. I’ve contacted Michael Guest office, hope I’m lucky enough to get tickets to the inauguration.
We as people should not rejoice over people mistakes. We have all made them and we want people to give us grace. The law say we are innocent until proven guilty, but people who are just as vulnerable as anyone else believe you guilty until proven innocent until she was on your family member, these are young black leaders all under the age of 50. Ken has been On the city council, I’m sure 30 years formal mayors have done the same identical thing. Tell me why he didn’t call the US attorney on them. Tell me why it became a personal vendetta with him between them? I see no respect in going to the US attorney office because he didn’t do it in the past. With white mayor and black if he had I would’ve respected him but he didn’t. We all have skeletons in our closet stop putting each other down if we can’t lift us up, please just be still and do nothing. I am not trying to justify wrong, we all need Grace at sometime in our lives.
I FIRMLY know believe Kenny Stokes is honest and honorable. The rest are trash that needs to be picked up. Somebody call Richard's. Oh wait...
I'm wondering the same thing....
Banks asked Judge Greer for a court appointed attorney. NO WAY JOSE. You pay for your attorney, you grifting thief!
So, can we honestly say that Jodie Owens IS the Hinds County DA and it doesn’t stand for District Attorney…..it stands for Dumb Ass. Owens is tied in with the Chapman Family in Hinds County who owned the land and BUILT the house for Ed Peters! If I remember there is a company that is called CO2 which is Chapman /Owens owned and they deal in real estate. I don’t think this is over yet. I’m thinking it’s tied to a lot more people.
Thanks, but I am referring to an actual perp walk, i.e. in cuffs heading into the jail.
Another example of Dems just being Dems, nothing new here.
Nationwide news now. Congrats Antard.
Cows??? Really????
You haven't read the indictment. Jody brags about running a criminal organization out of the DA's office. It's bad and he needs to be fired NOW. I called the HCBOS and the Governor's office and both claim that they have no ability to suspend him.
It is not over. The indictment says and others known and unknown.
God bless 2:26, life must be tough being that naive.
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