The plea agreement Chokwe Antar Lumumba signed on July 1 and filed in federal court five days later is a document of surrender, page by page. It runs five pages. It gives away nearly everything a criminal defendant can give away.

Lumumba pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. Section 371, which carries a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. But the agreement, docket entry 211 in case 3:24-cr-00103, goes far beyond the charge.

He waived his right to appeal the conviction and sentence on any ground. He waived his right to contest the sentence in any post-conviction proceeding, including a motion under 28 U.S.C. Section 2255. He waived his right to seek attorney fees under the Hyde Amendment. He waived his right to request any records from any federal agency under the Freedom of Information Act or the Privacy Act.

The agreement also freezes his assets. Lumumba is prohibited from transferring or liquidating any asset he owned as of the date he signed. Any unapproved transfer or liquidation, the agreement states, 'shall be deemed a fraudulent transfer or liquidation.' He must also complete a Department of Justice financial statement within seven days of his guilty plea and provide updated statements before sentencing.

The only right Lumumba preserved is the right to pursue a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based on information not known to him at the time of sentencing, and which could not have been known through reasonable diligence.

On July 7, one day after the plea was entered, the court assigned a probation officer to Lumumba's case, docket entry 215 shows. That officer will now conduct a pre-sentence investigation and produce a report that will guide Judge Daniel P. Jordan III when he sentences all three defendants on the same day: October 15.

The joint sentencing date is unusual. Owens, Lumumba, and Banks each pleaded guilty to the same charge, conspiracy, and each faces the same statutory maximum. But the pre-sentence reports will differ. The probation officer will weigh each defendant's role, their cooperation, their criminal history, and the amount of loss or benefit they received.

For Lumumba, the government has alleged he accepted $50,000 in bribes disguised as five $10,000 campaign contribution checks. The indictment described a meeting on a yacht where Owens handed Lumumba cash, and a night at a club where Owens directed undercover agents to make cash available for the then-mayor to use. Lumumba's only quoted word in the indictment was 'Yeah.'

The plea agreement does not specify a recommended sentence. It notes that the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines are advisory only and that the court may impose a sentence outside the guideline range. The government has requested restitution but has not specified an amount.

A digital audio recording of Lumumba's change-of-plea hearing was filed on July 8, docket entry 217. That recording, along with the plea agreement and the forthcoming pre-sentence report, will form the record Judge Jordan reviews before October 15.

The three men who once ran Jackson's city government and its criminal justice system will stand before the same judge on the same morning, three months from now, to learn how many years they will spend in federal prison.