OXFORD — Day three of the federal trial of Jabari Edwards and Antwann Richardson saw testimony from Jim Bell, who worked for North Atlantic Security and eventually bought out its contracts, as well as a federal agent who interrogated Edwards after his arrest.
Edwards and Richardson are accused of misusing several million dollars in federal pandemic relief funds. The Columbus men each face 17 criminal counts.
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.
North Atlantic Security and Edwards Enterprises are the companies at the heart of the investigation. Edwards and Richardson, among other things, allegedly applied for Paycheck Protection Plan loans for NAS after it had been sold off.
Former Office of the Special Investigator General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) Agent Dietrich Bohmer told the court Edwards confessed to him that he knew PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program funds had been misspent.
Bohmer was one of two federal agents who interrogated Edwards in the hours following his June 16, 2022, arrest. He testified Edwards told him that pandemic relief funding had been spent on jewelry, vehicles and travel, among other things, and that payroll numbers provided to get the PPP loan for NAS were not accurate.
Bohmer said Edwards also told him Edwards Enterprises received about $900,000 in EIDL money, but that he was the sole proprietor of the company and ran it out of his home. Edwards said large bonus checks, ranging from $20,000 to $30,000 and inscribed with the message “I love you,” that were given to some employees as bonuses were paid for out of the PPP and EIDL money, Bohmer testified.
During cross examination by Edwards’ attorney, Chandler Rogers, Bohmer confirmed he did not audio or video record the confession. He said his agency’s policy did not require him to and that he had not been issued with any recording equipment.
When asked why he didn’t use recording equipment in place at the Columbus Federal Bureau of Investigation office, where the interrogation took place, Bohmer testified that he did not use other agencies’ equipment.
Rogers questioned Bohmer about Edwards’ statement, which was prepared by the agents and signed by Edwards rather than being handwritten by Edwards. Bohmer explained that he took detailed notes during the interview and used those notes to put together the final report.
“It’s not like a court transcript,” Bohmer said. “It’s not 100%, but it’s pretty close to it.”
Bohmer said for the entirety of his 25 years as an agent, that’s how he prepared his reports.
Rebranding North Atlantic?
Bell, along with Christina Steadman, bought North Atlantic Security’s contracts in 2021. Bell testified NAS was an operational business throughout the pandemic.
The company had active contracts in Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas and Texas, Bell testified. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the company experienced some staffing problems and overtime issues, but it was “nobody’s fault” and was due to sickness and the effects of the pandemic itself.
However, throughout 2020, Bell said he was working to drum up more business.
“We were continuing to operate and trying to grow,” Bell said, right up until late December 2020 or early January 2021 when Edwards told him he wanted out of the armed security business.
Bell said Edwards had been weighing a transition to providing security via surveillance cameras rather than with armed or unarmed guards, and those discussions very much centered on NAS at first.
Bell said Edwards eventually decided to stand up a separate company, We C U, to handle the security camera business in part as a rebranding due to negative media coverage surrounding NAS and its tax debt.
However, Bell stressed this was something that was being talked about before the decision to sell NAS. In fact, money had already been spent to build a “command center” in the J5 building and Bell, in addition to seeking armed security contracts, was also in the process of getting specifications for cameras and servers for the surveillance business.
A key part of Edwards’ and Richardson’s defense is that they were not fully shutting down NAS, merely rebranding it and shifting it to more profitable camera surveillance ventures.
Bell said he stayed with J5 through June 2021 to help with setting up a “video wall” at the command center.
On redirect by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Mims, Bell confirmed that after March 1, 2021, NAS employed “zero guards.” He also testified that We C U was not registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office until April 23, 2021, which was after NAS was effectively shut down.
Edwards applied for PPP money for NAS in January 2021.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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