Campaign finance reports reveal Jackson mayor received donations from businesses owned by DA, DA’s wife

Campaign finance reports reveal Jackson mayor received donations from businesses owned by DA, DA’s wife

Campaign finance reports reveal Jackson mayor received donations from businesses owned by DA, DA’s wife

Campaign finance reports reveal Jackson mayor received donations from businesses owned by DA, DA’s wife

Campaign finance reports reveal Jackson mayor received donations from businesses owned by DA, DA’s wife

This photo included a federal indictment shows Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba making a phone call to a city employee to move the date of an RFQ to benefit FBI agents posing as developers. He sits next to Hinds DA Jody Owens.(U.S. District Court Southern District of Mississippi)
Published: Feb. 4, 2025 at 11:24 AM CST|Updated: 18 minutes ago

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Campaign finance reports obtained by WLBT through an open record request reveal more details about how the mayor reported some $50,000 in gifts he allegedly received as part of a scheme to bring a convention center hotel to Jackson.

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba submitted his paperwork last week to qualify for the 2025 municipal elections. The mayor also submitted his backlog of campaign finance reports.

Prior to January 31, the mayor had not filed the reports in some three and a half years, in violation of Mississippi state statute.

[READ: Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba seeking third term]

The reports filed on Friday show that at least some of the funds allegedly received as part of the bribery scandal came to the mayor through donations from businesses tied to a co-conspirator in the case, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens.

Lumumba was indicted in October. He is charged with one count each of conspiracy, federal program bribery, use of an interstate facility in aid of racketeering, honest services wire fraud, and money laundering.

He pleaded not guilty during his initial appearance in federal court in November.

According to the indictment, the mayor received five $10,000 checks from FBI sources posing as out-of-state developers after he directed a city employee to change the due date for a request for qualifications related to a multimillion-dollar project planned for property next to the Jackson Convention Center.

The indictment goes on to state the mayor deposited those checks in his campaign account on April 4. He then allegedly withdrew portions of those funds on April 5 and April 8.

Lumumba’s 2024 finance report shows the mayor added four $10,000 amounts into his campaign account on April 1. According to the report, the checks were donations from Downtown Cigar Company, Perinatal Services PLLC, Kevin J. May, and Sherik M. Smith.

Downtown Cigar Company is owned by DA Attorney Jody Owens, who is facing eight counts in connection with the same bribery scheme. The company was raided by FBI agents on May 22.

The Downtown Cigar Company was raided by the FBI last summer. It is associated with Hinds...
The Downtown Cigar Company was raided by the FBI last summer. It is associated with Hinds County DA Jody Owens.(WLBT)

Perinatal Services, according to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s website, is owned by Michelle T. Owens, the district attorney’s wife.

Sherik M. Smith is Sherik Marve’ Smith, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery back in October also in connection with the same scheme.

It was unclear how Kevin J. May was associated with the mayor. No address was listed in the report for that individual.

All four donations were the first amounts Lumumba’s campaign received from each entity during the reporting period.

A fifth $10,000 amount was deposited in the mayor’s account on March 28 believed to be from Karry L. Young. No address for Young was provided. Karry L. Young is listed as a corporation.

Karry L. Young by aswarren77 on Scribd

The Mississippi Secretary of State’s website shows that the corporation was dissolved in 2018 but reinstated in August 2022, only to be dissolved again on January 5, 2025.

The company’s registered agent is Bobby L. Owens, of 782 N. West St.

Young’s address, meanwhile, is listed as 1010 Bellwood Ave. in Bellwood, Illinois. An additional address for Bobby Owens is listed at 14214 Caprock Cove Ln., in Humble, Texas.

A timeline of the bribery scheme compiled by WLBT shows that days after the funds were deposited, a portion of them were withdrawn using checks payable to Lumumba. The first was on April 5 for $9,500 and the second was on April 8 for $5,000.

[READ: Jackson bribery scheme timeline: See when developers first met with Hinds County DA]

No disbursements listed in the report from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, match those amounts.

In all, 14 disbursements were reported, the largest being for $5,500, which covered the mayor’s costs for a “Chicago fundraiser.”

The next largest disbursements were for $2,000 each, going to Ashton Jackson and J. Cavett. No addresses for those expenses were listed, nor did the report list what the expenses were for.

Many political pundits believed the mayor would not qualify for re-election because he would have to update his campaign reports. Prior to Friday’s filing, the mayor had not submitted the documents since summer 2021.

Mississippi state statute requires incumbents to be up to date on campaign finance filings to qualify for re-election.

The reports were received at 5 p.m. on January 31.

A full list of the mayor’s 2024 campaign donations are below:

  • Brian Johnson – $1,000
  • DMG Company LLC – $2,000
  • JWAR Properties LLC – $30,000
  • Terry Lovelace – $20,000
  • Downtown Cigar Company LLC – $10,000
  • Perinatal Services PLLC – $10,000
  • Kevin J. May – $10,000
  • Sherik M. Smith – $10,000
  • Karry L. Young – $10,000
  • Metropolitan Bar and Grille – $5,000
  • James Covington – $500
  • Friends of Nicholas Smith – $1,000
  • Mohammad Kasim Reed – $1,500
  • Citizens for Danny K. Davis – $300
  • Larry Perry – $1,000

We have reached out to Lumumba and an attorney for Owens and will update the story once we receive comment.

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