Former Hinds County DA Sentenced to Over 3 Years in Massive Bribery Scheme
Former Mississippi DA Jody Owens faces over three years in prison for overseeing a $250,000 bribery plot involving Jackson city officials.
POLICY WIRE — Jackson, Mississippi — The former district attorney for Mississippi’s most populous county received a prison sentence exceeding three years on Thursday following his role in a corrupt pay-for-play scheme that involved several municipal leaders.
Jody Owens, who previously led Hinds County, was convicted of soliciting $250,000 in illicit payments in exchange for securing city contract bids for specific individuals.
During the court proceedings, U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan noted that Owens had sworn to uphold the law but instead chose to solicit bribes to subvert the integrity of the city’s competitive bidding process.
Beyond his custodial sentence, the judge mandated that Owens pay a fine of $100,000.
Owens expressed deep regret during the hearing, stating that he felt immense shame for having betrayed his family, friends, and professional peers through what he described as foolish and repugnant conduct.
The investigation also led to the conviction of former Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks, who was ordered to serve nearly four years in prison. Additionally, former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba entered a guilty plea to conspiracy charges last summer and is currently awaiting his own sentencing date.
The federal indictment revealed that Owens accepted payments from two FBI agents operating as real estate developers. These funds were used to facilitate over $80,000 in bribes to Banks, Lumumba, and former Jackson City Council vice president Angelique Lee to ensure support for a specific development project.
Both Lee and Sherik Marve Smith, a relative of Owens, entered guilty pleas to federal bribery charges earlier in 2024.
Prior to his 2019 election as district attorney, Owens served as the lead Mississippi attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal organization focused on civil rights litigation.
Owens originally won office on a platform of criminal justice reform, promising to prioritize the prosecution of violent offenders while seeking uncarceration alternatives for nonviolent crimes.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
