Amid a bribery investigation in Mississippi’s capital city, one that has resulted in indictments of four elected officials, longtime Jackson Councilman Kenneth Stokes is pleading with Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba to take a leave of absence from office and consider taking a plea deal after initially pleading not guilty to federal charges.
Work must go on in Jackson even in the throes of the investigation. But the Ward 3 leader said any potential progress is being prohibited by the lingering sludge of corruption dripping from a growing collection of top Jackson politicians.
“The attitude and atmosphere in city hall are not so good. It’s a dark cloud over the city until this gets done,” Stokes said during an appearance on Mary Wieden & You. “But that’s how you remove that cloud – a leave of absence, with pay, and let the chief administrative officer run the city. He’s there to run the city anyways. We need to get the confidence of the people back.”
Jackson’s current chief administrative officer, Louis Wright, Sr., has held the position since 2021. He previously stepped into leadership roles when gaps opened, such as filling in as the interim public works director when then-interim director Robert Lee resigned in April.
Stokes alluded to distrust that has been simmering in the capital city for years, pushing many longtime residents to move to neighboring cities such as Madison, Brandon, and Ridgeland. The investigation will only serve to further fray that reputation, Stokes believes, and could open the gate for the state legislature to intervene because they “can’t trust the mayor.”
Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, and Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks all pleaded not guilty after being officially arraigned earlier this month on varying federal corruption charges. With a bundle of evidence used to bring the charges against the trio, Stokes thinks all three should work out a plea deal – especially Lumumba.
“He knew better. He knows better. He shouldn’t have gone for the okey-doke – that’s what they call it in my neighborhood,” Stokes mused. “Like P Diddy and others, if you’re locked up, you can’t spend your money. If the mayor is going to survive this, he needs to think about his family and think about cutting a deal.”
Owens and Lumumba each face decades in prison if convicted on charges that include conspiracy, federal bribery, racketeering, and wire fraud. But beyond the not-guilty plea, Lumumba has maintained his innocence from the start, going as far as claiming the investigation to be a “political prosecution” to hinder him from remaining the top politician in Mississippi’s largest city.
“They’ve got film. They’ve got audio. The federal government does not play,” Stokes concluded. “They have enough evidence to convict you. If you think you can say, like what maybe was done in 1950, that they’re just doing this to me because I’m Black. Some of the same people that have evidence on you are blacker than you.”
The trial for all three men is set for January 6, 2025, but both sides’ legal teams are pushing to delay the process after filing a dual motion that cites a lack of time to conduct sufficient discovery and preparation ahead of the proceedings. The same investigation has resulted in two other guilty pleas, including former Councilwoman Angelique Lee and local businessman Sherik Marve Smith.
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