Former Jackson, Mississippi, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy charges tied to a federal real estate bribery investigation, marking a dramatic conclusion to a case that has shadowed his administration for more than a year.
According to federal prosecutors, Lumumba admitted to participating in a scheme in which he accepted $50,000 in campaign contributions from undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers seeking approval for a major downtown Jackson project. The money, prosecutors said, was offered in exchange for official action that would benefit the proposed development.
The case also ensnared Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who pleaded guilty on June 29. Federal authorities alleged that Owens acted as the intermediary, receiving money from the undercover agents before directing it to Lumumba through a series of campaign contributions intended to disguise the payments.
Court documents describe the arrangement in detail. The indictment states that Lumumba accepted the campaign checks “knowing and understanding” that the funds came from the purported developers and that they were provided in return for favorable official action on the project.
The Department of Justice previously alleged that the payments were concealed through five separate $10,000 campaign contribution checks originating from third-party entities and individuals, including Owens. Prosecutors further alleged that Lumumba routed the money through his campaign account before withdrawing a portion of the funds, a process they characterized as laundering the proceeds.
Investigators said Owens obtained the money directly from the undercover FBI agents after agreeing to help secure government approval for the developers’ proposed multi-million-dollar downtown Jackson development. The operation formed part of a broader federal corruption investigation targeting public officials connected to the project.
Both Lumumba and Owens now face potential prison sentences of up to five years under the terms of their guilty pleas, according to reports from Fox News.
The guilty plea represents a significant shift from Lumumba’s earlier public statements. When the charges were first announced in 2024, he strongly denied any wrongdoing, calling the case a politically motivated prosecution.
“To be clear, I have never accepted a bribe of any type,” Lumumba said at the time. “As mayor, I have always acted in the best interests of the city of Jackson.”
Requests for comment from Lumumba’s legal team, Owens’ office, and the City of Jackson were not immediately returned following the guilty plea, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Lumumba, now 43, served as mayor of Mississippi’s capital city from 2017 until 2025. His tenure ended after he lost the Democratic primary to State Senator John Horhn, bringing an end to eight years in office. The Lumumba name has long been associated with Jackson politics, as his father, the late Chokwe Lumumba Sr., served as the city’s mayor from 2013 until his death in 2014.
With both central figures in the investigation now having entered guilty pleas, the federal corruption case has reached a pivotal stage, closing a chapter that began with an undercover FBI operation and ended with admissions of guilt from two of Jackson’s highest-profile public officials.
