Former Democratic Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy in connection with a six-figure real estate bribery scheme. According to Fox News, Lumumba accepted $50,000 in campaign contributions from undercover FBI agents who were posing as real estate developers. Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who prosecutors said helped route the […]

Former Democratic Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy in connection with a six-figure real estate bribery scheme.

According to Fox News, Lumumba accepted $50,000 in campaign contributions from undercover FBI agents who were posing as real estate developers. Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who prosecutors said helped route the money, pleaded guilty on June 29.

Both Lumumba and Owens face up to five years in prison, the outlet reported.

The indictment said Lumumba accepted the checks while knowing the money came from the developers and was being offered in exchange for his help with their proposed development project.

“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 lead attorney, Owens’ office, and the City of Jackson did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Justice Department said in a 2024 news release that the payments to Lumumba were disguised as five $10,000 campaign-donation checks from third-party entities and individuals, including Owens. Prosecutors said Lumumba then moved the money through his campaign account before cashing out part of it.

Advertisement

Owens, according to the indictment, received the money from the undercover FBI agents in return for agreeing to use his official position to help secure approval of the developers’ proposed multi-million-dollar downtown Jackson project.

When the charges were first brought, Lumumba denied wrongdoing and described the case as political, the Associated Press reported in 2024.

“To be clear, I have never accepted a bribe of any type,” Lumumba said at the time, while he was still serving as mayor. “As mayor, I have always acted in the best interests of the city of Jackson.”

Lumumba, now 43, served as mayor of Mississippi’s capital from 2017 until 2025. His time in office ended after he lost the Democratic primary to John Horhn. Lumumba followed in the footsteps of his father, the late Chokwe Lumumba Sr., who served as mayor of Jackson from 2013 to 2014.

The guilty plea marks a sharp turn for a politician who once rejected the accusations outright. Prosecutors portrayed the payments as part of a broader effort to influence city approval for a lucrative downtown development deal. Lumumba, who had framed the case as politically motivated when it first became public, has now admitted to his role in the conspiracy.

The case also adds to the fallout from the same bribery investigation that already brought down Owens. With both men now having pleaded guilty, the remaining question is how the court will weigh their conduct at sentencing.

The Western Journal