JACKSON, miss.- The former mayor of Mississippi’s capital and former City Council president pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme a week before they were set to stand trial.

Former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and former Jackson City Council President Aaron Banks pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy. His statements came after Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens pleaded guilty last week and resigned. All three are Democrats.

Two other people, Angelique Lee, former Democratic vice president of the Jackson City Council, and Sherik Marve Smith, a businessman and relative of Owens, had already pleaded guilty to bribery charges.

A November 2024 indictment accused Owens of receiving at least $115,000 from two FBI agents posing as real estate developers and facilitating more than $80,000 in bribe payments to Banks, Lumumba and Lee in exchange for their help green-lighting a development project.

Lumumba, Banks and Owens could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. His sentencing hearings are scheduled for October 15.

Lumumba, who previously called the charges a political prosecution, lost his re-election bid last year. His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

The banks’ attorney declined to comment.