The question of Wilbur Colom
A jury was selected Monday in the criminal trial against J5 owner Jabari Edwards and president Antwann Richardson.
The two are accused of misusing federal COVID-19 relief money. the trial is being held in federal court in Oxford.
Just what is that thing about, anyway? How did all this get started?
What are Edwards companies?
The case centers around a group of companies owned by Edwards, which includes J5 Solutions, J5 GBL, the Bridge Group and North Atlantic Security Services. Also involved is Edwards’ personal, limited-liability company Edwards Enterprises. Edwards owned the companies, but Richardson oversaw the day-to-day operations.
Locally, J5 did work for the Greenfield Trust in cleaning up the old Kerr-McGee site off of 14th Avenue North.
Edwards’ companies are commonly known as J5 or “the J5 businesses” because they all shared common office space employees, and Edwards and Richardson allegedly routinely moved money between them as each business needed cash.
North Atlantic Security and Edwards Enterprises are the companies at the heart of the investigation. Edwards and Richardson allegedly applied for loans for NAS after it had been sold off.
The raid, the charges
In June 2022 a host of federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, raided the headquarters of J5, a company founded and owned by Edwards and whose day-to-day operations were overseen by its president, Richardson.
The raid happened in conjunction with an indictment that accused Edwards and Richardson of misusing more than $2 million in federal Paycheck Protection Plan and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program funding. Between the two, they were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements.
In December a superseding indictment would add more felonies, bringing the total to 17.
The government alleges that Edwards and Richardson fraudulently used the pandemic relief money they received to prop up Edwards’ business empire, pay taxes, make political contributions, give bonuses and buy real property, including Court Square Tower in downtown Columbus.
The legal struggle to date
Over the last two years, the case has taken many twists and turns. Edwards attempted to get allegedly incriminating statements, including an apparent attempt to shift blame to Richardson, thrown out. He argued he had requested a lawyer several times during his interrogation, but his requests were ignored.
Judge Sharion Aycock didn’t buy it, but Edwards tried again, this time arguing federal agents should have recorded his arrest and initial interrogation but didn’t. That effort bore no fruit, either.
Richardson, for his part, asked in December 2022 for a separate trial. He argued Edwards’ defense is “antagonistic, inconsistent and irreconcilable” with his own, and accused Edwards of trying to shift blame for the allegations away from himself and onto Richardson.
The effort was unsuccessful, and the two men continued to forge ahead, challenging the motivation for the investigation. Edwards leaned into a narrative that painted himself as the victim, and alleged that the investigators were persecuting him to get him to flip on his friend and former mayor of Columbus, Robert Smith.
During Smith’s last two terms, J5 served as project manager for the city.
Prosecutors, for their part, allege that Edwards is trying to distract from his guilt by attacking the investigation rather than dispute the facts laid out in the indictment.
The question of Wilbur Colom
Columbus attorney Wilbur Colom has been beside Edwards every step of the way, paying his bond after his arrest and then eventually joining his legal team.
However, this has not sit well with the court. Prosecutors raised questions about a potential conflict of interest regarding Colom representing both Edwards’ companies and Edwards himself.
Sophia Erby, a former employee of Edwards’ now works for Colom, putting Colom in a position where he might have to cross-examine one of his own employees. Colom had been interviewed by federal agents as a potential witness in the case, and Colom sold Court Square Tower to an Edwards-owned company and is now trying to foreclose on it.
In December Aycock disqualified Colom from the case. In January Edwards’ other attorney, Chandler Rogers, asked her to reconsider. On March 13 Aycock refused, and Colom remains disqualified.
The Dispatch plans to provide full coverage of the trial, which began Monday at the federal courthouse in Oxford.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
