Jabari Edwards is asking a federal judge to reconsider whether to admit incriminating statements he allegedly made to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Edwards, owner of J5, claims that policies requiring federal agents to use body cameras were not followed, and his initial interview with federal agents should have been recorded but was not.
Edwards and J5 President Antwann Richardson were indicted in June 2022 for allegedly misusing more than $2 million in Paycheck Protection Plan and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program funding.
They allegedly fraudulently applied for coronavirus relief funds through North Atlantic Security, which Edwards owned at the time but later sold, and Edwards Enterprises, a company listing Edwards as its sole member.
The specific “incriminating statements” in question are not yet part of the public court file. The motion asks they only be made available “under seal” to the judge for the purposes of ruling on the motion.
The two are jointly charged with 17 criminal counts, including multiple charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
Prosecutors argue that Edwards and Richardson fraudulently received PPP and EIDL money that was then commingled with funds from Edwards’ other companies. The money was used to prop up those other businesses, pay their taxes, make payments to friends and family and, in some cases, to buy real property, including Court Square Tower in downtown Columbus.
In February Edwards asked Federal Judge Sharion Aycock to throw out allegedly incriminating statements he made immediately after his arrest, claiming that he had requested a lawyer several times and been ignored. A hearing on the motion to suppress the statements was held in April in Oxford, and ended with Aycock ruling against Edwards.
Edwards’ attorney, L.N. Chandler Rogers, asked Aycock to reconsider her decision in a motion filed May 5.
Edwards was arrested by agents with the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rogers wrote.
Rogers argues the U.S. Department of Justice — which includes the FBI — requires agents to “…electronically (record) statements of individuals in their custody. Recordings are to occur ‘where persons are held in connection with federal criminal charges; and at places of detention, to include federal facilities.’”
However, the statement Edwards made at the Columbus FBI office after his arrest was not recorded, even though there was recording equipment in the interview room, Rogers wrote.
“Edwards was detained post-arrest at the FBI office in Columbus,” Rogers wrote. “Because a DOJ employee was part of the operation, Edwards was arrested for federal criminal charges, Edwards was guarded pre-interview by a federal agent, Edwards was detained at a DOJ facility, and Edwards was transported by a U.S. Marshal post-interview, the DOJ’s presumption of recording applied.”
Body camera policies were also violated, Rogers wrote.
In September 2021 the DOJ launched a body-worn camera program, Rogers wrote. The Inspector General for the United States Treasury also enacted a body camera policy, and SIGTARP’s policy mirrors it.
“Per the policy, body worn cameras ar to be used during law enforcement operation which are defined as ‘the planned execution of an arrest warrant or search warrant…’” Rogers wrote. “Further, body worn cameras ‘will be deployed for all enforcement operations.’”
SIGTARP special agents are required to activate those cameras “to record contacts with individuals during enforcement operations,” Rogers wrote. It also requires all special agents participating in an enforcement operation to activate their body cameras.
Edwards’ arrest was an “enforcement operation” and therefore “… agents who arrested Edwards were required to utilize body-worn cameras, but they did not,” Rogers wrote.
The agents’ testimony should be excluded because of the violation of these policies, Rogers wrote.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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