“I stand here before you today cleared of corrupt, discriminatory and baseless charges that have unjustly tarnished my name, my reputation and my businesses,” Jabari Edwards told a crowd of about 30 supporters during a Tuesday morning press conference called to celebrate his exoneration of federal fraud and conspiracy charges.
The press conference was held in front of the J5 office at Court Square Tower on Second Avenue North. Edwards did not take any questions from media members present.
Edwards and co-defendant Antwann Richardson were both acquitted Friday evening of 17 counts each of wire fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and making false statements. Their joint trial in federal court in Oxford lasted two weeks, and the jury deliberated 9 1/2 hours before delivering its verdict.
The two men were indicted in June 2022 and charged with fraudulently using Paycheck Protection Plan and Economic Injury Disaster Loan money acquired for North Atlantic Security and Edwards Enterprises.
Richardson and his attorney, Victor Fleitas, were not present at Tuesday’s event.
Wilbur Colom, who has a business relationship with Edwards and, for much of the case, was one of his attorneys, said the whole investigation was “wrong.” Federal Judge Sharion Aycock removed Colom from Edwards’ legal team due to a conflict of interest. He had sold J5 Court Square Tower and foreclosed on the property after Edwards’ and Richardson’s arrest, and he also represented Edwards’ companies in several lawsuits.
“I have been a lawyer for longer than most of you have been alive, and this case has been fundamentally wrong from the beginning,” Colom said.
Colom alleged that an “extreme faction” of people in Columbus drove the investigation and the subsequent indictment.
“An extreme faction in Columbus opposed to (Edwards) and those involved in city office with whom he associated enlisted federal investigators to initiate an unjustified probe of (Edwards) and his businesses,” Colom said. “Initially framed as an inquiry into (Edwards’) contracts with the city, this investigative review yielded no evidence of any wrongdoing.”
Investigators unlawfully surveilled Edwards for years, Colom claimed, before exploiting “the evolving nature and vagueness of the Small Business Administration regulations to bring these charges against (Edwards and Richardson).”
“They had a person they wanted, not a crime,” Colom said.
In court documents, Edwards’ defense team argued that federal agents were actually pursuing former mayor Robert Smith and argued the investigation began with the city’s blight elimination program. They argued the government was using the fraud prosecution in an attempt to flip Edwards against Smith.
Smith has not been charged with any crimes.
“The chief investigator demanded (Edwards) tell lies about corruption on specific public officials in Columbus and elsewhere,” Colom said. “(Edwards) refused to lie on innocent people.”
Edwards credited Colom for highlighting misconduct on the part of the lead investigator.
“(Colom) dug up compelling evidence regarding the lead investigator’s conduct that was so damning (he) was barred from testifying during the trial,” Edwards said.
In a motion filed July 31, Fleitas argues that Office of the Special Investigator General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) agent Richard Vignogna has outside business interests that may constitute a conflict of interest, as well as alleging that he lied on the stand about his disciplinary background during his career with the federal government.
Vignogna was later barred from testifying in the case, although his partner, Dietrich Bohmer, did testify during the first week of the trial.
Edwards on Tuesday further argued that media coverage helped fuel the fires.
“I firmly believe that the corrupt, discriminatory investigation was partly fueled by the constant negative portrayal of me and my businesses in The Commercial Dispatch,” Edwards said. “This biased narrative commenced when I lawfully secured the project management contract for the city of Columbus.”
J5 was given a contract to work as city project manager in 2013. In that year’s municipal election cycle, Edwards had worked as Smith’s campaign manager. Edwards was also appointed to the Columbus Light and Water board by the Smith administration.
J5 backed out of the project manager role after Mayor Keith Gaskin was elected in 2021, and city engineering firm Neel-Schaffer took on that responsibility.
“This flood of negativity persisted for years in the letters to the editor and news articles that baselessly insinuated unethical and illegal conduct on my part,” Edwards said.
Edwards’ attorney, Chandler Rogers, said Edwards was “castigated and condemned” by many in the court of public opinion.
“The presumption of innocence attended him through trial in the only court that matters, which is the court of law,” Rogers said. “He stands here before you today clothed in innocence. He has been vindicated, and his freedom is real.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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