# Banks Rejected a Better Plea Deal. He Would Not Cooperate.

> The former councilman turned down a government offer that required cooperation with prosecutors. His two co-defendants also pleaded guilty without cooperating.

*General News · By Jackson Wire Staff · July 16, 2026*

Aaron Banks had a better offer. He turned it down.

The former Jackson city councilman pleaded guilty July 6 to one count of conspiracy in the federal bribery case that brought down three of the city's most powerful elected officials. But during the hearing in U.S. District Court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dave Fulcher told Judge Daniel Jordan that the government had offered Banks a deal that required him to cooperate with prosecutors. Banks refused.

"We made an offer that was better, and our best offer included cooperation by the defendant," Fulcher said, according to a transcript of the proceeding reported by WLBT. "He is no longer accepting any cooperating plea agreement."

Judge Jordan paused the hearing to consult with attorneys after Banks's lawyer, Carlos Tanner, began to say his client would never accept a cooperation agreement. When proceedings resumed, Jordan asked Banks directly whether he understood that a better offer had been on the table.

"I think you had a chance to talk with your attorney and discuss the various offers that have come and gone. Is it your understanding that there was an offer at one point that was better than what you're pleading to today?" Jordan asked.

"I did reject that offer," Banks said.

Banks pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy count that former Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba entered less than an hour earlier that same morning. Former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens had pleaded guilty to the same charge a week earlier, on June 29. All three are scheduled to be sentenced together on October 15.

None of the three defendants agreed to cooperate with the government. That means prosecutors will not file the motions for sentence reductions that typically accompany cooperation agreements. Each man faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution the government has requested but not yet specified.

The contrast with earlier defendants in the same investigation is sharp. Former Ward 2 Councilwoman Angelique Lee and local businessman Sherik Marve Smith both pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2024. Their sentencing dates have been suspended indefinitely, a sign that they are cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

Banks's refusal to cooperate means the government will not learn what he knows about the scheme from the inside. Fulcher laid out the basics in court: Banks demanded $50,000 from undercover FBI agents posing as developers, received an initial $10,000 payment routed through Owens, used the money to pay debt, and assured the agents he would deliver other council members' support for a downtown convention center hotel project.

Lumumba, for his part, told the judge, "I accept the facts that he read," after Fulcher recited the allegations. The former mayor admitted accepting $50,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for official action on the hotel project, including a call to a city employee to move a proposal deadline in the developers' favor.

The trial that was supposed to start July 13 never happened. Jury selection was canceled. The case that consumed Jackson's political class for two years ended not with a verdict but with three men standing before a judge, each saying they would not help the government pursue anyone else.

October 15 will determine what that choice costs them.

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[The Jackson Wire](https://www.thejacksonwire.com/) · [Read on the web](https://www.thejacksonwire.com/article/banks-rejected-better-plea-deal-cooperation)