On Wednesday morning, the FBI raided a cigar business owned by Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens II as well as his office at the courthouse.
Downtown Cigar Company is located just blocks from the Hinds County Courthouse, where Owens serves as prosecutor.
“The FBI is executing federal search warrants at multiple locations,” FBI spokeswoman Marshay Lawson said in a statement. “The affidavit in support of the search warrants has been sealed by the court, and so I am prohibited from commenting further. There is no threat to public safety.”
Owens was not available at his office and did not return emails or phone calls.
Owens, a native of Terry, took office as Hinds DA in 2020. He previously served as chief policy counsel and managing attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Mississippi office. Owens attended Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., and worked for the slow U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran as a legal intern for the Senate Appropriations Committee. Owens is a lieutenant intelligence officer in the Navy Reserves.
The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant. After working for three decades for the statewide Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.
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