Hinds County DA Jody Owens accepted at least $115,000 in cash bribes and facilitated payments to Jackson officials
Between October 2023 and May 2024, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens orchestrated a scheme in which he accepted at least $115,000 in cash from two undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers seeking support for a Jackson hotel project, and facilitated more than $80,000 in bribes to city officials, including $50,000 to then-Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's reelection campaign. Owens, Lumumba, and then-Councilman Aaron Banks were federally indicted and arraigned on November 7, 2024, and all three later pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges; Owens resigned as district attorney. Sentencing for all three is set for October 15, 2026.