Bribery case adds to problems in Mississippi city with water woes and policing disputes

[November 09, 2024]  By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Bribery and conspiracy charges against the mayor are the latest shock to Mississippi's capital, where a federally appointed official is running the water system after it nearly collapsed and state police are patrolling parts of the majority-Black city because of white legislators' concerns about crime.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and two other Democratic elected officials — Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Jackson City Council member Aaron B. Banks — pleaded not guilty to federal charges Thursday. They will remain free while awaiting trial in a case tied to the proposed development of a long-vacant downtown property.

“I am not guilty, and so I will not proceed as a guilty man,” said the mayor, who is seeking a third term in 2025.

Lumumba is Black and has described himself as a “radical” who is “uncomfortable with oppressive conditions.” Both he and his sister, Rukia Lumumba, say they believe he is facing a political prosecution, even with the Justice Department still being led by a Democratic administration.

“First Trump wins, now they are trying to indict my brother,” Rukia Lumumba posted on Facebook. “As Spike Lee says, WAKE UP! They come for the best of us because we are threatening their power.”

Distrust of government runs deep in Jackson, from people who say the state has blocked efforts to help the city and those who say the city has stumbled in providing basic services.

City Council member Kenneth Stokes, a fellow Democrat and frequent critic of the mayor, said the indictments sharpen the skepticism.

“You're drinking dirty water. You can't get your streets paved. You already lost trust,” Stokes, who is also Black, told media outlets.

“Do not say you are running for office to help people when you're trying to help yourself,” Stokes said. “If you're going to help people, help people.”

Jackson's population peaked at about 203,000 in 1980, a decade after the integration of public schools, and has since fallen to around 143,700. More than 80% of residents are Black, the highest percentage of any major U.S. city, and about 25% live in poverty.

The city struggled for years with water quality problems and understaffing at its two treatment plants.

A cold snap in early 2021 froze some treatment equipment and left many people with low pressure or no running water at all. For weeks, thousands of people collected water in buckets from distribution sites so they could flush toilets and bathe, and the National Guard helped distribute drinking water.

Tens of thousands had little or no water for weeks in August and September 2022 after heavy rains exacerbated problems at one of the plants. The city had already been under a boil-water notice for a month because the state Health Department found cloudy water that could cause digestive problems. The federal government put an independent administrator in charge of the system in late 2022, over objections from the mayor and his political allies.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba voices his opposition to Mississippi House Bill 1020, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, during a protest at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

A conflict over law enforcement developed in 2023, when the majority-white and Republican-controlled Legislature voted to expand the territory of the Capitol Police, a division of the state Department of Public Safety. State officers previously patrolled around government buildings in downtown Jackson and now do so in a significantly bigger area.

People who protested against the expansion said it would give white state officials disproportionate power in Jackson. Early this year Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and Mayor Lumumba announced “ Operation Unified,” a federal, state and local effort to fight violent crime the city.

Indictments were filed against the mayor, Owens and Banks after two people working for the FBI posed as real estate developers wanting to build a hotel near the downtown convention center and provided payments, including $50,000 for the mayor’s reelection campaign, according to court documents.

Two others were previously caught up in the bribery investigation.

City Council member Angelique Lee, a Democrat, resigned in August and pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges. Her sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Sherik Marve Smith — an insurance broker and a relative of Owens, according to court documents — waived indictment and pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in the case on Oct. 17. He agreed to forfeit $20,000, and his sentencing is set for Feb. 19.

In May, FBI agents raided Owens’ office and a downtown cigar bar he owns. Among the items found in the office was a lockbox made to look like a book labeled as the U.S. Constitution; inside was about $20,000 in cash, with about $9,900 of it with serial numbers confirming it was paid by the purported developers to Owens, according to the indictment.

Owens boasted to the purported developers about having influence over Jackson officials, saying he had “information on all the city councilmen” and could get votes approved, according to the indictment. It also said Owens told the purported developers that Mississippi politicians live off campaign contributions, that he knew how to “clean” outside money by putting it in an in-state bank and that he didn't care about the source of the money.

Owens “facilitated over $80,000 in bribe payments” to Lumumba, Banks and Lee in exchange for their agreement to ensure approval of the multimillion-dollar downtown development, according to the indictment.

Outside the courthouse Thursday, Banks declined to comment. Owens called the FBI investigation flawed, adding: “We think the truth has to come out, that cherry-picked statements of drunken, locker-room banter is not a crime.”

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