Councilman Stokes says Angelique Lee won't be last city official to be prosecuted this year

After now former Ward 2 Jackson City Councilwoman Angelique Lee pleaded guilty to accepting bribes, which were for her vote on a downtown development, Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes told reporters she may not be the last Jackson official standing before a judge this year.

"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," Stokes said. "I've said several weeks ago that we need to pray for the city, and we need to pray for the county."

During a press conference at the Medgar Evers Library on Medgar Evers Boulevard, Stokes declined to say how he knew more arrests might be coming but said Lee would be only the first of several members of the Jackson City Council and Hinds County Supervisors, other city and county officials and local businesspeople, to be "brought down" by federal investigators.

Stokes declined to give names of those he believes have taken bribes or could be currently under investigation by the FBI.

Earlier this summer, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens' office and a cigar lounge he owned were raided by FBI agents. Those agents also visited City Hall on the same day.

"It's going to get a little more cloudy before the sun come back out," Stokes said. "Some big-name people in this city might go down."

Stokes said Lee may have been a sacrificial lamb given over to law enforcement to throw them off of others. Although, he said, that probably won't work.

"I think, under the theory of big fish eat little fish that others who may have gotten in trouble, sacrificed Councilwoman Lee," Stokes said.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Councilman Stokes says Angelique Lee won't be last city official to be prosecuted this year