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Councilman Aaron Banks charged with bribery

Sakege November 8, 2024

On Thursday, District 6 Councilman Aaron Banks pleaded not guilty to the federal charges he faces in the Jackson bribery scandal.

Banks, who previously served as council president, was arraigned Thursday in U.S. Attorney Thad Cochran Court on charges of bribery and conspiracy. Wearing a black suit, he faced the judge as his charges were read to him, along with those of Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens.

The hearing was only the first court appearance and the trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. on January 6, 2025. Banks asked the court to allow her to speak to potential witnesses, and the court agreed to that as long as Banks does not dispute the case. case with anyone related to the case.

As they left the courthouse, Banks refused to answer questions about the case, and those who came out with them shoved a reporter and several microphones as they left the building. Banks did not say a single word to reporters.

As for the charges, the federal government alleged that Banks asked for $50,000 in bribes, according to federal documents unsealed Thursday that announced indictments against Banks, District Attorney Jody Owens and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.

The banks, according to the indictment, also allegedly threatened to withhold city employees’ salaries if they did not comply with their wishes to help move up the deadline for a downtown hotel development project.

Banks, 47, was in court Thursday for less than an hour.

According to the indictment, Banks allegedly conspired with Lumumba, Owens and former Councilwoman Angelique Lee to enrich themselves.

Banks, Lumumba and Lee allegedly received $80,000 in bribes in exchange for “taking official action” to help “developers” secure a multimillion-dollar hotel project in downtown Jackson. Those developers turned out to be FBI agents.

In January, Banks allegedly solicited a $50,000 bribe and in February received $10,000 cash as a down payment through Owens, along with the promise of employment from a family member and a personal security team. When discussing payment with FBI agents posing as developers, Banks said that “$50,000 as soon as possible would help.”

Between March and May 2024, agents spent approximately $1,500 on Banks’ driving services and $4,800 on the family member’s employment. Banks’ daughter, Briana, is an employee in Owens’ office, according to a public records request Clarion Ledger received from the Owens district attorney’s office. According to her LinkedIn profile, Briana has been working since March of this year. He earns $30,000 a year working as a paralegal in Owens’ office.

In March, during a meeting with “developers” about the deadline for the city’s statement of qualifications, or SOQ, for the hotel project, Banks allegedly said he would withhold city employees’ salaries if they did not help delay the deadline. He also assured developers that he would “make sure” certain council members voted in favor of the project. Banks was serving as board president at the time the alleged bribes occurred.

Banks is the latest to fall victim to a bribery scandal that already brought down former District 2 Councilwoman Lee in August. Their charges come two weeks after the second conspirator, Sherik Marve’ Smith, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. The banks did not respond to Clarion Ledger’s repeated requests to comment on the scandal for weeks, including refusing to answer questions after Tuesday’s Jackson City Council meeting.

Owens and Lumumba also pleaded not guilty Thursday.

Background to the bribery scandal

Smith and Owens, prosecutors allege, agreed to facilitate bribes to two Jackson elected officials from two Nashville real estate developers interested in the downtown hotel project. The Nashville developers ended up being undercover FBI agents.

One of those officials was known as “Unindicted Co-conspirator B,” who accepted the bribes in exchange for his vote in support of the undercover agents for the hotel project. Banks has been revealed as “Unindicted Co-conspirator B.” Previously, Ward 7 Councilor and Council President Virgi Lindsay confirmed that only one council member can vote on development projects.

Banks is now the second council member involved in the bribery scandal. Lee resigned his position on the council and, on the same day, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. He also accepted nearly $20,000 in “cash, deposits and other gifts,” according to court documents, from two Nashville developers.

Both Lee and Banks accepted the bribes in exchange for their support of the undercover agents’ bogus real estate venture for the city’s hotel project. Lee also agreed to vote in favor of a highway closure to promote the same project, court documents show. His sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 13, but was continued in October. A new sentencing date has not yet been set.

This all started in May when FBI agents raided the office and business of Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, while also paying a visit to Jackson City Council.

Conspiracy to commit a bribery charge carries a potential maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to court testimony. He could also receive three years of supervised release.

Banks was council president last year, along with Lee, who was vice president. In May, Banks alleged guilty of a DUI charge received in January after being stopped by a Mississippi state trooper. Banks was also charged with DUI in 2011. Coincidentally, Lee was also arrested on a DUI charge on June 16, 2023 by a Madison Police Department officer who followed her after smelling marijuana. In February, Lee was expected to get the charge expunged.

After Lee pleaded guilty, four Jackson City Council members revealed to the Clarion Ledger that they were also approached and met with out-of-town real estate developers interested in building a development downtown. Following Lee’s guilty plea, three Jackson City Council members, Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote, Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley, and Ward 7 Councilwoman and Council President Virgi Lindsay, They also said that they met with out-of-town developers. Ward 4 Councilman Brian Grizzell said he met a developer in passing; Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said he might have received a call. All denied accepting bribes and none could verify whether they were the agents who bribed Lee.

Banks never responded to a request for comment about whether she also held meetings with the “developers.”

What all of the individual meetings described by the four council members have in common is that they were organized by Owens. Owens is also “in real estate,” which his lawyer says is legal. Owens and his attorney, Rob McDuff, declined to answer questions about council members’ meetings with the developers and the district attorney. Owens, through his attorney, issued a statement in August.

Will Banks resign?

It is unclear whether Banks will step down as a council member. His second term will end on July 1, 2025. If he does, the city will have to hold another special election to fill the vacant District 6 seat.

Since Lee’s indictment, the city held a special election to fill the vacant District 2 seat on October 1. Unofficial results show Tina Clay and Marcus Cheatham as the top two candidates for a runoff scheduled for October 22.

Born in Cincinnati on September 24, 1977, Banks moved to Jackson when he was 15 and graduated from Forest Hill High School in 1995. He later received a full scholarship to Jackson State University and was a member of Sonic Boom of the JSU South. one of the most recognized university music bands in the country.

Who is Aaron Banks?

Before being elected to the council, Banks worked for the city’s Department of Constituent Services and as deputy chief administrative officer, where he headed what was known as the Quality of Life Division. In 2016, Banks left town, although the reasons for her departure were never revealed.

Today, Banks is a pastor at his church, Glory Empowerment Center, located on Maddox Road in South Jackson. The center provides “empowerment, mobilization, reconciliation, healing and liberation for all people.”

Additionally, Banks launched “Aaron Banks and Associates, LLC,” which is described as “a political and grassroots organizing machine.” He also founded Vision Strategies LLC, a public relations and political consulting firm.

He successfully managed the 2009 campaigns of Tony Yarber for Jackson City Council and former Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis in 2011, the first elected Black sheriff in the county’s history.

Banks was first elected as a Ward 6 councilman in 2017.