JACKSON, Miss. ( WJTV ) – Since former Jackson City Councilwoman Angelique Lee pled guilty to federal charges , others on the Jackson City Council shared their experiences with who they believe to be undercover FBI agents.

Lee pled guilty to accepted more than $13,000 in cash and purchasing multiple luxury items with a credit card given to her by FBI informants. The informants posed as real estate developers from Nashville, and Lee was not the only city official they approached.

Councilmen Vernon Hartley and Ashby Foote said they attended meetings with out-of-town real estate developers in February 2024. They said the meetings were set up by Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens.

“I was over in the Fondren area at Walker’s, and the meal was very good. And I gladly paid my $24, and I moved on. Never heard back from anybody again. I may not know what undercover agents look like, but I know what business folks would look like. And I’m about the business. I expected them to roll out some type of schematic or plan or this is what we had. I didn’t see any of that,” Hartley said.

“It was, you know, sort of a… unusual sort of meeting. No formal presentation, no handouts, no business cards,” said Foote.

Hartley said there was no quid-pro-quo deal offered to him by the individuals.

“We’re out there trying to draw businesses in, you shouldn’t color outside the lines when doing that,” he said.

Councilman Aaron Banks declined to answer whether he took any meetings similar to his colleagues.

“You know, look, I’m not going to answer those questions this time, but I tell you, we meet with people that want to be developers all the time, and any one of them could be informants,” Banks said.

Listed in the bill of information was n unnamed co-conspirator A. With rumors about who that person could be, retired State Assistant Attorney General John R. Henry said more charges could be coming.

“There’s at least one other person out there that you would certainly assume is going to be charged. Of course who that individual is, nobody knows except for the federal government at this point. What prompted the investigation, we don’t know yet. And how long it lasted, we don’t know,” Henry said.

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