Sitting in a private room on a yacht in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens negotiated payments from two Nashville real estate developers interested in bidding on a Jackson development project.
What Lumumba and Owens didn't realize is the payments they allegedly accepted were actually from two undercover FBI agents. The entire trip was part of an FBI sting into Jackson's government, which would later lead to Lumumba, Owens, and Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks being federally indicted on felony bribery charges.
Lumumba, Banks and Owens all pleaded not guilty to federal charges at the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse Thursday afternoon on charges that stem, partly, from that trip to the South Florida area.
A trial has been set for all parties for Jan. 6, 2025.
Here's how the trip went down, according to the indictment:
After weeks of communication, Lumumba agreed to go on a trip with Owens, his associate Sherik Marve' Smith and the undercover agents to Ft. Lauderdale in a private jet that was actually owned by the FBI. They called the trip a "fundraiser."
But before the trip, Lumumba first met with the undercover agents and Owens at a dinner on Feb. 12. After introductions, Owens allegedly told Lumumba "I've done background checks. They're not FBI by the way."
On April 2, Lumumba, Owens and Smith boarded the private jet, flew to Ft. Lauderdale, then hopped on a yacht. Owens and Lumumba joined the agents in a private room on the yacht where they negotiated about the undercover agents' desire to win the city's statement of qualifications, or SOQ, for a hotel development project across the street from the Jackson Convention Complex. The city released the SOQ on Jan. 31.
The private room was rigged with recording equipment. The following exchange between Lumumba and Owens was captured, according to the indictment:
One of the agents asked Lumumba to move the city's SOQ deadline from April 30 to April 10 or 15. Lumumba then called a city employee and directed them to move the deadline to April 15. The indictment shows a picture of Lumumba, sitting next to Owens, making the phone call.
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The second agent then gave Lumumba five $10,000 checks in an envelope. Another picture shows Lumumba holding an envelope and talking with Owens. Lumumba then confirmed that the city employee had moved the deadline.
Later in the day, Owens received another $50,000 in cash that he removed from a bag and put in his pockets. A third picture in the indictment shows Owens with a wad of cash in his hand appearing to take more money out of a black bag.
Owens, Lumumba and the agents then went to a local club that night where Owens directed the agents to make cash available for Lumumba to use at the club. Lumumba also directed the agents to pay cash to employees of the club for Lumumba's benefit.
When Lumumba got back to Jackson on April 4, the five $10,000 checks he received were deposited into his campaign bank account. Prior to that, Lumumba's account balance was approximately $465.30.
Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at [email protected] or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.
Contact Charlie Drape at [email protected].