Mysterious Meetings: Foote and Hartley meet with DA, developers weeks before FBI raids

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Two weeks after federal agents executed search warrants on Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, two members of the Jackson City Council say meetings they had with the DA earlier this year likely could be related.

On May 22, the FBI raided the DA’s office at the Hinds County Courthouse, as well as the Downtown Cigar Company, a business owned by Owens at the corner of East Pearl and South Lamar streets.

[READ: Hinds County DA Jody Owens’ Office releases statement following FBI raid on business, office]

Agents also visited Jackson City Hall, where they spoke with Dr. Safiya Omari, the mayor’s chief of staff. They also confiscated at least one city council member’s cell phone.

What exactly agents were searching for has yet to be revealed and warrants have not been made public.

Ward One Councilman Ashby Foote suspects the raids could be related to a meeting he had back in February with Owens and individuals he believed to be developers interested in building a convention center hotel.

Foote says he walked away from that meeting underwhelmed, saying developers never tried to give him a “hard sell.”

“Salespeople are very important in making business happen. And they’re normally, you know, glad to meet you, engaging, want to get to know you,” he said. “I didn’t get that sense from them that they were in that sort of mode.”

Today, Foote believes that’s because they likely weren’t developers at all, but undercover agents.

“With what we’ve seen in the last week or so of activity, it’s easy to come to an entirely different conclusion about what it might have been,” he said. “I do think now they were fishing for something that may be edgy or illegal.”

Ward Five Councilman Vernon Hartley also met with Owens and individuals believed to be developers back in January.

He initially jumped at the opportunity, because Owens told him the developers were interested in finding out about Ward 5.

“If it’s something that could help our ward, I’m all for it,” Hartley said. “We need all the businesses we can get... We’ve got a metro to develop. We’ve got a highway to develop. We’ve got Ellis and Robinson... a lot of stuff going on over there. So, yeah, any time there was a business interest, I’m interested in being a cheerleader for my ward.”

Like Foote, Hartley also wasn’t impressed with the so-called developers, saying they didn’t offer any concrete plans and weren’t as interested in finding out about his ward as he believed.

“I don’t remember where they are from. I don’t remember what [their goal was]. I was asking him, ‘Do you have a pamphlet or anything?’ And, so, I never got anything like that,” he said. “They were just, you know, vague.”

Hartley’s meeting was on January 11 at Walker’s Drive-In. Foote’s meeting was at the Capital Club on February 29. Foote and Hartley both paid for their own meals.

Neither believed at the time that the DA’s involvement raised any red flags, with Foote saying he was eager to attend the meeting, in part, to meet with Owens about dilapidated properties in the city.

“I’ve done a lot of work trying to wrap my arms around the abandoned property problem, which is a really serious issue for the city of Jackson,” he said. “My plan was to go to all the law enforcement heads across the city, county, state, and federal level... in hopes of coming up with some sort of solution to address it.”

Foote talked with the DA about that issue for about 10 minutes before he was given a very informal presentation from developers.

“I’ve been in the investment business myself for 40 years, so I’ve had the opportunity to see hundreds of presentations by investors... and I would have to say that this presentation was pretty ho-hum and non-structured,” he recalled. “It wasn’t as engaging as you might expect for a big presentation.”

“It wasn’t like I would be making the decision anyway. But I just walked away thinking [there] was not much to what they had to say.”

Foote said the one thing that did seem strange was when the developers asked, “How does Jackson work?”

“I thought that was kind of an odd question... I wasn’t sure what to make of that,” he said. “Then, they talked about the Convention Center needs and talked about a hotel project and perhaps some retail as well, and that’s the extent of my notes from the meeting.”

Foote said the group eventually lost interest and discussed going to look at properties around the convention center.

“They didn’t invite me... I was a little disappointed about that,” he said. “I didn’t even get a chance to write all their names down. They didn’t give me any business cards. I don’t remember any business cards or folder or anything like that.”

Hartley said he let developers know early on he wasn’t going to do anything unless it was above board.

“I can promise you in about 10 minutes, they had all the feeling about me that they needed,” he said. “And that is, ‘I’m not that guy.’ It’s good to establish who you are early and who you’re not.”

Developers identified their firm as “Facility Solutions Team.” The group was one of three companies that responded to the city’s request for qualifications to develop the property across the street from the Jackson Convention Complex.

According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office, the company was set up on March 19, 2024, nearly three weeks after the meeting with Foote, and a week after the March 12 deadline for responding to the RFQ.

Jackson issued the request in January, seeking what essentially amounts to resumes from developers interested in developing the roughly 7.75-acre site along Pascagoula Street.

The city decided to put out the RFQ after it received no responses to its previous request for proposals.

Plans are to develop the acreage in multiple phases, with the first one including a 335-room hotel, a 1,200-car parking garage, and an open entertainment space.

The RFQ marked the fourth time the Lumumba administration had sought developers for the site. Former Planning Director Chloe Dotson said previously that the city had been unable to find a master developer, in part, because the acreage is divided into multiple parcels with multiple owners.

Five sections, including the four largest, are owned by the city. Four smaller plots are owned by the Jackson Redevelopment Authority. Other sections are owned by the Capital City Convention Center Commission and by Kaz LLC, city documents state.

An official in City Hall confirmed Jackson Jambalaya’s report that FST, Speed Commercial Real Estate, and 2K Development all responded.

3 On Your Side requested a copy of those responses through Jackson’s open record request portal on May 28. The city said it needed additional time because the proposals could contain trade secrets that cannot be released under state statute until all bidders have been notified.

As of June 6, only the Ridgeland-based Speed Commercial Real Estate had agreed for its response to be released.

For his part, Jeff Speed said the DA’s desire to participate in real estate development is not a red flag.

“I don’t think it’s completely unusual for professional people to be involved in other careers or other jobs... I have several doctor friends [who] invest heavily in real estate. I have several attorney friends that invest heavily in real estate,” he said. “It’s not their primary income source... They choose real estate over a 401(k), or alternatives to other investments.”

Owens did not respond to our request for comment. A copy of his office’s policy states that the District Attorney does not prohibit outside employment. However, the employment must be approved by the DA or his designee in writing.

Further details regarding outside employment are shown in the document below.

WLBT Reporter Quentin Smith contributed to this report.

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