Mississippi district attorney pleads guilty to bribery conspiracy and resigns

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi district attorney has resigned and changed his plea to guilty in a bribery scheme that ensnared other officials in the state’s capital city, including Jackson’s former mayor.

Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens was indicted in November 2024 after two FBI agents posing as real estate developers offered bribes to him and the other officials to greenlight a development project.

The indictment accused Owens of soliciting and accepting at least $115,000 in cash as well as facilitating more than $80,000 in payments to his alleged co-conspirators, including $50,000 for Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s reelection campaign. Lumumba, who called the charges a political prosecution, lost his reelection bid last year.

Owens could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

“This was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made,” Owens wrote in a social media post announcing his resignation. “While it hurts beyond measure to step away from a position I love, I believe this decision is what is best for me, my family, and the District Attorney’s Office.”

Lumumba and former Jackson City Council member Aaron B. Banks pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to stand trial starting in mid-July.

Angelique Lee, another Jackson City Council member, and Sherik Marve Smith, a relative of Owens, pleaded guilty to the federal bribery charges in 2024.