Whew! Former Mississippi District Attorney Sentenced To More Than 3 Years Behind Bars In Bribery Scheme

Jody Owens, the former district attorney of Mississippi’s largest county, was sentenced Thursday (Nov. 5)  to more than three years in prison for taking bribes in a scheme that ensnared a number of city officials.

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Here’s What Happened With Jody Owens In Mississippi

Former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens was charged on accusations that he solicited $250,000 in bribes in exchange for awarding city contract bids to certain people.

“He took an oath to uphold the law, and yet he solicited $250,000 in bribes to rig what should have been a fair and open bidding system for city contracts,” said U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan during the court hearing, WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi, reported.

The indictment accused Jody Owens of taking bribes from two FBI agents posing as real estate developers. He also allegedly facilitated more than $80,000 in bribes to Aaron Banks, Lumumba and Angelique Lee, the Democratic former vice president of the Jackson City Council, in exchange for their help advancing a development project.

Jody Speaks Of His Shame Amid Sentence

In addition to his prison sentence, the court also ordered Owens to pay a $100,000 fine. He admitted to his guilt.

“I can’t begin to tell you the shame I feel,” Owens said in court. “I betrayed myself, my family, my friends, and my colleagues, by my foolish and repugnant actions.”

City Council President Also Sentenced, Others Caught In Legal Upset

Former Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks was also sentenced Thursday to almost four years in prison in connection to the scheme. Last summer, former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy related to the scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.

Meanwhile, Lee and Sherik Marve Smith, a relative of Owens, pleaded guilty to the federal bribery charges in 2024.

Before becoming district attorney in 2019, Owens had been the lead attorney in Mississippi for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Jody Owens ran as a criminal justice reformer, saying he would focus on prosecuting violent crime while looking for alternatives to jail and prison for nonviolent offenders.

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