A federal judge sentenced former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens to 41 months in prison, nearly two years to the day after federal prosecutors brought bribery charges against him, former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Councilmember Aaron Banks.
Owens must also pay a fine of $100,000 and serve three years probation, U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III ruled Thursday afternoon.
The judge called his decision “somber” and said he believed Owens still had a bright future.
“I actually think the future you have in front of you is better than the one that you were going down,” he said.
Banks was expected to be sentenced Thursday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III, while Lumumba’s sentencing will conclude later this month.
Other Jacksonians ensnared in the case have yet to be sentenced, including former Jackson City Councilmember Angelique Lee and Owens’ cousin, Sherik “Marve” Smith.
Lumumba attended Thursday’s hearing to register objections to his presentencing report, which judges use to help determine what punishment a defendant gets.
The judge had previously set Nov. 20 for the conclusion of the former mayor’s sentencing hearing but on Thursday foreshadowed that Lumumba could spend between 37 and 46 months in prison.
Former Jackson City Councilmember Aaron Banks heads into the Thad Cochran U.S. Courthouse for his sentencing hearing, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi TodayFederal prosecutors indicted Owens, Lumumba and Banks on Nov. 7, 2024, after years of investigating suspected wrongdoing in Jackson. Mississippi Today previously reported that the capital city caught the attention of federal authorities during a yearslong conflict between Lumumba and the Jackson City Council over the selection of a garbage collection vendor.
No charges ever arose from that matter. Instead, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a sting operation in 2023 and deployed two undercover FBI agents to pose as out-of-state real estate developers seeking to build a convention center hotel in downtown Jackson.
Former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba enters the Thad Cochran U.S. Courthouse for a sentencing hearing, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Jackson. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi TodayOwens wound up going into business with them, serving as an intermediary to Lumumba, Banks and other Jackson officials, according to the federal indictment.
The DA was a registered agent for the developers’ company in Mississippi, organized a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, fundraiser for Lumumba on their behalf, and used his campaign account to pay off Lee’s campaign debt to a local printing company, allegedly in exchange for her future vote.
Owens also hired Banks’ daughter for an internship at the DA’s office that prosecutors allege was funded by the purported developers.
Owens, whose family has helped develop parts of southern Hinds County, was elected district attorney in 2019.
Banks, who was deemed indigent by the federal judge, represented Ward 6 in south Jackson from 2017 to 2025. A political organizer, he started working for the city during Lumumba’s father’s mayoral administration in 2013.
Owens, Banks, Lumumba and their attorneys sat together on the right side of the courtroom. The gallery was sparse, and Lumumba’s supporters left shortly after the judge took the former mayor’s objections to the presentencing report.The proceedings began with lengthy arguments over the defendants’ presentencing reports from Lumumba and Banks. Presentence reports are sealed, but arguments over the information included in the document for each defendant showed the facts of the case remain murky.
Despite having pleaded guilty over the summer, the three former Jackson officials and a federal prosecutor appeared at times to be relitigating the exact nature of their scheme.
As Jordan evaluated Lumumba’s objections, the judge noted the mayor had taken a $50,000 bribe from Owens in exchange for moving up the city’s bid deadline.
“The ask was to move the date of the RFQ,” Jordan said, referring to so-called requests for quotations, which is part of the project bidding process.
Not so, responded Dave Fulcher, the federal prosecutor leading the case.
“That is a strawman that has been set up by Lumumba’s counsel,” he said. “The bribery scheme was not, ‘We need him to move the RFQ.’ The bribery scheme was, ‘We need him involved.’”
Hence then, the article about former hinds da jody owens sentenced to 41 months after pleading guilty to federal corruption charge was published today ( ) and is available on Mississippi Today ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Former Hinds DA Jody Owens sentenced to 41 months after pleading guilty to federal corruption charge )
Also on site :