HDistrict Attorney Jody E. Owens II sped toward a throng of TV cameras and reporters on the steps of the federal courthouse in Jackson last week to denounce what he called a “horrific example of a botched FBI investigation” and an “attempt to assassinated”. on my character.”

Owens, the top elected law enforcement official for Mississippi’s largest county, which includes its capital, has pleaded not guilty to several federal felony charges stemming from an alleged bribery of the FBI. He promised to stay in office.

And Jackson mayor defendant Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who faces similar charges in the same case, has pledged to remain mayor and continue his 2025 re-election campaign.

“We plan to fight these allegations. But right now, I’m going back to protect Hinds County and be your district attorney that you chose us to be,” Owens told reporters last week after his arraignment in federal court in Jackson.

“I am not guilty, so I will not act as a guilty man,” Lumumba said.

For at least the past 50 years, it has not been uncommon for high-ranking elected officials in the U.S. to retain their offices while fighting charges, even after major felony charges of corruption, according to legal experts interviewed by The Marshall Project – Jackson. Accusations are accusations and the accused are innocent until proven guilty.

Investigations into public corruption have become commonplace in the news. In 2022, the most recent year available, there were 50 guilty pleas and seven convictions for public officials, from a police chief to state senators, according to the Justice Department’s Public Integrity section. annual report.

Beyond Jackson, New York City Mayor Eric Adams faces federal corruption charges and has vowed not to resign. And although President-elect Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in New York last year for a cash payment, voters returned him to the presidency on Nov. 5, knowing full well of his convictions and other pending charges.

Public corruption in the country is as old as American politics, said Robert Collins, a professor of public policy at Dillard University in New Orleans. But cracking down on it has become an FBI priority in recent decades.

In 1978, Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. In the same year, the FBI began its work Abscam investigation into the bribery of parliamentarians. The investigation involved undercover agents using a yacht and offering cash to a senator, six congressmen and a mayor for political favors and sponsorship of legislation. The case resulted in 19 convictions, including longtime U.S. Sen. Harrison A. Williams Jr. of New Jersey, who resigned only after he was convicted and was on the verge of being expelled from the Senate.

More recently, in 2017, then District Attorney R. Seth Williams of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was indicted on 29 counts of public corruption while in office, including bribery. He was accused of accepting gifts from businessmen, including a 1997 Jaguar and a trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Williams, who once led the city’s anti-corruption investigations as inspector general, initially pleaded not guiltybut changed his request and resigned from office three months later. Williams admitted “to accepting hidden bribes worth tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for his agreement to perform official acts,” according to him. Department of Justice. He served three years in federal prison and was paroled.

More often than not, an indicted public official eventually resigns. And in many cases, prosecutors use the official’s elected position as bargaining chip, offering a better plea deal or dropping charges altogether in exchange for a resignation, legal experts said.

“Whenever an indictment is brought, the FBI and the Department of Justice who bring the indictment intend that it will cause him to resign immediately,” said Kenneth Katkin, a law professor at Northern Kentucky University. “Sometimes they ask for it openly.”

Cobstruction investigations can prevent public officials from doing their jobs and often erode the public’s trust in their elected officials, Collins said.

In New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell has been surrounded by a federal investigation for at least two years. Former police officer Jeffrey Vappie, who led his security detail, was indicted in July on a wire fraud charge. And a local entrepreneur, Randy Farrell, was served 25-count indictment in September on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud with “Public Official 1,” whom local media identified as Cantrell. Cantrell has not been charged.

The cloud of the investigation has hurt Cantrell’s performance in the polls, Collins said. It also affected city employees, who told Collins it’s hard to do day-to-day business with the looming investigation.

In Mississippi, reactions to the charges by Mayor Jackson and the county’s district attorney were mixed.

“You know, what we’re trying to do is build trust and what these charges will do is send a message… Don’t say you’re running to help people and you’re trying to help yourself,” Councilman Kenneth Stokes. said following the indictments. “If you’re going to help people, help people.”

Governor Tate Reeves said“Obviously, the allegations are serious and call into question the ability of individuals to do certain jobs. We are monitoring and following it very closely.”

Lumumba said in a video statement that he believes the investigation is a political move against him ahead of the 2025 mayoral race, a refrain also used by Trump, New York City Mayor Adams and others. Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a Democrat, said it is CONCERNED because he was a prominent Latin in government. A federal jury convicted him this year of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including cash and gold bullion. He kept his seat but resigned after being convicted.

Collins, the Dillard University professor, said claims of political persecution are a standard defensive tactic.

“Almost every politician claims political targeting and political vendetta, but whether or not they can convince voters of that, I think it depends on the skill set of the individual politician and it depends on the facts of the individual case,” Collins said. .

In Jackson, former prosecutor Robert Shuler Smith, who preceded Owens, faced criminal conspiracy charges brought against him by the state in 2016 and 2017, as well as aggravated stalking charges in 2018, all while in office. He never resigned and was never convicted. At the time, Smith said Mississippi Today that people were plotting behind his back for political reasons.

Political harassment is especially a common refrain in a majority-black, Democratic-led city like Jackson, which has a notoriously strained relationship with the white, Republican state leadership. However, the FBI’s prosecution is led by the federal government, led by Democratic President Joe Biden.

In his public statement, Mayor Lumumba did not refer to race or address who might be behind such political attacks. A friend of the mayor’s, Danyelle Holmes, however, told reporters at the courthouse after his arraignment that the prosecution was a direct attack on black leadership and an attempt to discredit the mayor’s character. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi did not respond to a request for comment.

In recent years, public corruption cases have become more complicated to prosecute and are overturned on appeal more than half the time because of the gray areas the political process creates, Katkin said.

In cases like Lumumba’s, where an official is accused of taking bribes in the form of campaign contributions, the legal landscape can get complicated.

Politicians legally solicit money for contributions during their campaigns and often make promises to their constituents. Voters, including people and companies who contribute to election campaigns, often tell politicians what policies they want to see passed or what problems need to be solved.

Demanding that politicians take action is within every constituent’s First Amendment right, Katkin said, making it difficult to enforce public corruption statutes.

“The ordinary workings of our campaign system in America can be painted to look like bribery in ways that are often persuasive to juries but not to appellate courts,” Katkin said.

A The landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the 2014 conviction of Virginia’s then-Gov. Bob McDonnell narrowed the avenues for prosecutors to build a federal bribery case. McDonnell was convicted on charges related to $175,000 in gifts he received from a local businessman seeking government investigations. The businessman never received anything in return.

McDonnell was convicted by a federal jury at trial. However, a unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned his conviction and narrowed the definition of an “official act” that could trigger a bribery charge. In short, the court said, if money is given but nothing is done in exchange for the money, there is no crime.

The justices said leaving the broad definition of an official act up to prosecutors’ interpretations could harm the political process for fear of being prosecuted for common political acts.

In Jackson’s indictment, the US attorney alleged that Lumumba’s “official action” was to move a development deadline to help agents posing as corrupt developers. District Attorney Owens is accused of facilitating bribes to induce the actions of Lumumba and Councilman Aaron Banks to help the developers. Banks has also pleaded not guilty and remains on the city council.

But in Mississippi and other states, a conviction isn’t always a bar to future political office. The Mississippi Constitution allows them convict of tax evasion and manslaughter to hold office.

In 2007, Oliver Thomas, a New Orleans alderman, pleaded guilty to bribery charges. He served three years in federal prison, returned home to New Orleans and built trust in his community for more than a decade before running for office again in 2021. He is now on the city council.

Public policy professor Collins said Thomas immediately admits responsibility to his constituents, along with his candidacy in a majority black, low-income district made up of people more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system — and through therefore, more likely to be likeable. on a second chance—helped him win favor and ultimately get the most votes in the election.