- A Mississippi district attorney has resigned and changed his plea to guilty in a bribery scheme that ensnared other officials in the state's capital city, including Jackson's former mayor.
- Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens was indicted in November 2024 after two FBI agents posing as real estate developers offered bribes to him and the other officials to greenlight a development project.
- The indictment accused Owens of soliciting and accepting at least $115,000 in cash as well as facilitating more than $80,000 in payments to his alleged co-conspirators, including $50,000 for Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's reelection campaign. Lumumba, who called the charges a political prosecution, lost his reelection bid last year. Owens could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
- “This was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made,” Owens wrote in a social media post announcing his resignation. "While it hurts beyond measure to step away from a position I love, I believe this decision is what is best for me, my family, and the District Attorney’s Office.”
- Lumumba and former Jackson City Council member Aaron B. Banks pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to stand trial starting in mid-July. Angelique Lee, another Jackson City Council member, and Sherik Marve Smith, a relative of Owens, pleaded guilty to the federal bribery charges in 2024.
