Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the former mayor of Mississippi's capital, entered guilty pleas Monday to bribery, wire fraud and money laundering, reversing his earlier insistence that federal charges against him were politically motivated.
The 43-year-old had been indicted two years earlier following an FBI sting operation in which he and two other elected Democrats were accused of accepting illegal payments to influence a real estate development project. At the time of his indictment in November 2024, Lumumba rejected the allegations outright. "To be clear, I have never accepted a bribe of any type," he said then, characterizing the investigation as an effort to derail his re-election campaign.
In federal court in Jackson on Monday, Lumumba pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. Aaron Banks, a former city council member, pleaded guilty to the same charge. Both were released pending sentencing in October, where each faces up to five years in prison and fines reaching $250,000.
According to prosecutors, Lumumba accepted $50,000 in bribes disguised as campaign contributions. In April 2024, he and the other conspirators were flown by private jet to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where federal agents posing as representatives of a development company handed them cash in exchange for favorable treatment of a proposed hotel project in Jackson.
After returning, prosecutors said, Lumumba contacted the city's director of development and planning to expedite a crucial meeting about the hotel proposal. The scheme unraveled when federal investigators revealed their true identities.
Jackson city council member Angelique Lee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in August 2024 and resigned her seat. Jody Owens, the district attorney for Hinds County, entered a similar plea a week before Lumumba's guilty plea and resigned from his position.
The guilty pleas eliminated the need for a trial scheduled for July 13, meaning full details of the FBI operation may never surface publicly. Lumumba left the courthouse without speaking to reporters, accompanied by his wife, Eboni.
As a convicted felon, Lumumba's law license may now be revoked.
Supporters and advocacy groups remained vocal even after the guilty plea. Attorneys representing the National Conference of Black Lawyers argued that Black elected officials face disproportionate scrutiny and double standards compared with their white counterparts. "Black elected officials have too often exercised leadership under a level of scrutiny and political pressure that is neither equally applied nor equally experienced," said co-chair Mawuli Davis.
Lumumba, who was first elected mayor in 2017 at age 35 with 93 percent of the vote, had pledged to make Jackson "the most radical city on the planet." His tenure was marked by clashes with state and federal officials, particularly over a 2022 water crisis that left over 150,000 residents, predominantly Black and lower-income, without adequate service for months. Schools and essential facilities closed as Jackson's aging water infrastructure failed under the strain.
Author James Rodriguez: "The guilty pleas shut down the conversation before the full scope of the corruption could be aired in open court, leaving serious questions about how deep this reached into Jackson's government."
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