Former Democratic Mayor Pleads Guilty to Bribery Scheme After Getting Nabbed by Undercover FBI Agents
Former Democratic Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy in a six-figure real estate bribery scheme.
Lumumba accepted $50,000 in campaign contributions from undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers, Fox News reported. Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who funneled the bribes, pleaded guilty on June 29.
Lumumba and Owens each face five years in prison, the outlet reported.
“Lumumba accepted the checks knowing and understanding that the money was from the Developers, and that it was being offered in exchange for official action from Lumumba in favor of the Developers’ proposed development project,” the indictment said.
Lumumba’s primary legal counsel, Owens’ office, and the City of Jackson each did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
Owens’ payments to Lumumba were “concealed as five $10,000 campaign-donation checks from third-party entities and individuals, including Owens. Lumumba then laundered that money through his campaign account before cashing out a portion of the payment,” a 2024 Department of Justice news release read.
Owens obtains the funds from the FBI agents “in exchange for their agreement to take official action to ensure the approval of the Developers’ proposed multi-million-dollar downtown Jackson development project,” according to the indictment.
Lumumba originally called the prosecution’s charges a political prosecution, the Associated Press reported in 2024.
“To be clear, I have never accepted a bribe of any type,” Lumumba, who was then still in office, said at the time. “As mayor, I have always acted in the best interests of the city of Jackson.”
The now 43-year-old Democrat served as mayor of Mississippi’s capital from 2017 to 2025 when he lost reelection in the Democratic primary to John Horhn. His father, the late Chokwe Lumumba Sr., served as mayor of Jackson from 2013 to 2014.
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