Angelique C. Lee has resigned from the Jackson City Council ahead of a guilty plea in a federal bribery case, adding the latest layer to a sustained period of civil dysfunction in Mississippi’s capital.
The news came on Wednesday afternoon when an Aug. 7 federal grand jury indictment against the Democratic legislator was unsealed, revealing tens of thousands of dollars in cash and merchandise she received in a pay-to-play scheme dating back to earlier this year.
An unnamed “co-conspirator” and other involved individuals are mentioned in the five-page document, which details an FBI sting operation and Lee’s agreement to exchange the benefits for favorable votes in her capacity as a city council member. She is also said to have attempted to cover up the bribes after the fact.
“Circumstances that I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment, have led to this decision,” Lee said of her resignation in a letter to her fellow council members. “I will greatly miss working with each of you, and I am proud of the work we have done as a collective body for the City of Jackson and its citizens.”
NEW: Mississippi's Jackson City Councilwoman Angelique Lee has resigned today after being indicted in federal court for bribery, following an FBI probe into the DA prosecuting the Brett Favre welfare scandal.
— Nate Tinner-Williams (@natemup) August 14, 2024
The Black Catholic politician has been released on a $10,000 bond. pic.twitter.com/zOt251nl37
A member of the Jackson City Council since 2020, Lee won the general election for the Ward 2 seat in 2021 with more than 98% of the vote and was due to hold her seat until 2025. Her resignation was accepted by the city council president, Virgi Lindsay, who held a press conference thereafter.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have accepted [Lee’s] resignation,” Lindsay said. “My intent today is to reassure the people of the City of Jackson that the urgent legislative affairs of the city will continue uninterrupted.”
Lee was released from the federal courthouse in Jackson on a $10,000 bond, and may be expected to testify in an ongoing probe of the office of Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, which FBI agents raided in May.
According to a report from Front Office Sports, the investigation of Owens was what led to the sting operation against Lee. (Separately, Hinds is the lead prosecutor in the 2020 Mississippi welfare case involving public funds that allegedly enriched, among others, retired NFL star Brett Favre.)
Federal charges against other Jackson and Hinds County officials are expected in the coming days, according to various local reports.
“I believe there's going to be a number of indictments coming down to this community at the county level and at the city level,” Kenneth Stokes, a council member representing Ward 3, told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday. “I've said several weeks ago that we need to pray for the city, and we need to pray for the county.”
EXCLUSIVE: Multiple Mississippi politicians—including the DA who brought the first changes in the state's massive welfare scandal—have been eyed in a far-reaching federal bribery investigation, sources tell @FOS. https://t.co/h5xD3Qvcwj
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) August 14, 2024
The city of Jackson has itself been under a cloud of controversy in recent years, including an unresolved water crisis, a state takeover of much of its judicial and executive functions, a waste management snafu, and a nation-leading murder rate that has long rankled the local government.
Lee faced unrelated legal troubles beginning earlier this year, when she pled guilty in February to driving under the influence. In July, her city council wages were garnished due to failure to pay one of her campaign vendors. According to this month’s indictment, that debt was connected to one of her bribery schemes.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the webpage for the City of Jackson had already listed Lee’s council seat as vacant, scrubbing her name and information.
An archived version of the page notes that Lee is the daughter of civil rights activist Mary Harrison Lee and Gene Lee, former owner of the family’s Big Apple Inn, the oldest restaurant in the Jackson. She was a former teacher in Houston and New York and attends Holy Family Catholic Church, a historically Black parish. On the city council, Lee was a member of the finance, economic development, and water committees, among others.
The charges against Lee carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to a quarter of a million dollars. She will also forfeit all property and proceeds related to the bribes accepted. She did not respond to a request for comment from BCM.
Lee's sentencing has been scheduled for Nov. 13 at the Thad Cochran U.S. Courthouse in Jackson.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
