The mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, and several other public officials, have been indicted on federal bribery charges.
The indictment, filed in October, was unsealed on Thursday and names as defendants Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks, Jackson City Council Vice President Angelique Lee, and Sherik Marve Smith.
The indictment alleges that from October 2023 to May 2024, the officials accepted more than $80,000 in bribes in an agreement to approve multi-million-dollar development projects in downtown Jackson.
On Wednesday, Lumumba issued a video statement acknowledging he had been indicted and denied the allegations.
Lumumba suggested the indictment is politically motivated, with his upcoming mayoral election in January 2025….