By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-02 21:25:28 | Updated at 2024-10-04 13:23:21
1 day ago
A Democrat councilwoman in Mississippi accepted cash and other gifts - including a pair of Valentino wedge sandals - for her future votes in favor of a proposed real estate development project.
Angelique Lee, a former Jackson Ward 2 councilwoman, resigned in August shortly before pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.
Now, a federal judge has indefinitely delayed the sentencing phase.
Public court documents show that Lee accepted $19,000 from February 2024 to March 2024 for her votes in favor of a real estate development project in the City of Jackson proposed by two identified individuals.
Angelique Lee, a former Jackson Ward 2 councilwoman in Mississippi, accepted cash and other gifts - including a pair of Valentino wedge sandals - for her future votes in favor of a proposed real estate development project.
The parking lot across from the Jackson Convention Complex in Downtown Jackson has remained empty - but the City of Jackson has looked for developers to build a downtown hotel since the mid-2000s
She also agreed to vote in favor of a road closure that would advance the same project.
Not only did she accept more than $13,000, but multiple designer gifts - including a Christian Louboutin bag, a pair of Christian Louboutin sandals and a pair of Valentino wedge sandals.
Her home was raided by the FBI in May when all the items, except for a sweatshirt and perfume, were found, WJTV reported.
She was ordered to forfeit the items she had accepted for her compliance - including the $13,000.
The discovery came after Lee had dinner with two real estate developers from Nashville, Tennessee, this past March where she accepted $3,000 in a cash bribe for her support of a downtown development.
Unbeknownst to her, the so-called developers, referred to as 'individual 1' and 'individual 2', were actually undercover FBI agents.
The dinner was recorded and the transcripts were unveiled during her 32-minute hearing in front of Daniel Patrick Jordan, a US District Court judge.
Public court documents show that Lee accepted more than $13,000 and multiple designer gifts, including a Christian Louboutin bag, a pair of Christian Louboutin sandals and a pair of Valentino wedge sandals
Lee was elected to her position on the Ward 2 seat in 2020 during a special election after Melvin Priester Jr., a former City councilman, resigned
A portion of the conversation included the undercover agent presumably handing Lee the cold hard cash.
'So take this, that's yours, thank you,' he said. 'All of that and there's 800 more in there, so that's $3,000', Clarion Ledger reported.
'Oh my god,' Lee responds. 'I don't have to report that. Thank you, I'm not reporting this.'
The agent then thanks Lee for her support on the project, to which she responds: 'You've got more votes coming'.
The agent proceeded to give Lee a credit card to use for a shopping spree, saying: 'Don't go too crazy, but have a great time.'
She spent roughly $6,000 at a luxury clothing store in Jackson with the card the very next day.
She attended the dinner on March 27 with someone labeled as 'Unindicted Co-conspirator A' - an unknown person who sent $10,000 in an electronic transfer for the purpose of paying off a portion of her campaign debt, the Clarion Ledger reported.
Lee was elected to her position on the Ward 2 seat in 2020 during a special election after Melvin Priester Jr., a former City councilman, resigned.
This past August, Lee resigned shortly before pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery
But on an August morning four years later, she seemed to follow suit - abruptly resigning from her position.
At the time, she offered no explanation for her departure.
In a letter to coworkers, she wrote: 'Circumstances that I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment have led to this decision', Mississippi Free Press reported.
'It has been my tremendous honor to serve the constituents of Ward 2 and the people of the City of Jackson as a whole,' she added.
'I would like to personally extend my gratitude to all of my neighborhood association presidents for all of their support and prayers throughout my future.'
It was not long, however, until the conspiracy came to light.
Although Lee's sentencing is delayed indefinitely, she faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine
The downtown development in Jackson that was among the conversations Lee was involved in at the March dinner has remained largely empty.
But the development of a hotel on the site is something that the City of Jackson has been seeking developers for and aiming to build since the mid-2000s, the Clarion Ledger reported.
Despite the unclear reasoning behind the delay of Lee's sentencing, she faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
