Jonas Hodges

Jonas Hodges was an American businessman and executive of Starkwood who supplied the African warlord General Benjamin Juma, a rebel in Sangala, with weapons for his military coup. During Day 7, he provided Juma with intelligence, equipment, and other support for a raid on the White House in exchange for one very valuable shipment.

Before Redemption
As uncovered by Jack Bauer, there was a rumor for several years that warlord Benjamin Juma was experimenting with a deadly biological nerve-agent on the Sangalan people. Nobody believed the accusations after they had been revealed by a whistleblower, because it took technology and science that Juma obviously didn't have. But Starkwood had the means and the money for this to happen. Juma allowed Starkwood officials to experiment with the nerve-agent and test it on the population in exchange for manpower, training and weapons. This agreement is what forged his business relationship with Hodges.

Redemption


Jonas Hodges had a business associate, Nichols, launder a large quantity of money so he could support General Juma. He called his contact in Juma's army, and pressed them to move forward with the coup. When Hodges arrogantly offered to send in trained mercenaries to help, Juma's subordinate denied his offer, and left to go kidnap more young boys for his army. Hodges turned to Nichols, and ordered him to erase all evidence of the money laundering so completely, that even Hodges' own "ex-wives" couldn't "dig it up".

Hodges was eventually informed that Chris Whitley, Nichols' subordinate, had stolen the evidence. He ordered his mole, Secret Service agent Edward Vossler, to make sure that Roger Taylor had no reason to believe anything that Whitley told him. Vossler then sent Halcott and Quinn to trespass into Whitley's house, remove the evidence, and interrogate him. Just prior to the inauguration of Roger's mother Allison Taylor as President, Hodges ordered Vossler to have Whitley murdered. Halcott and Quinn killed and then encased the corpse in cement.

Day 7


After General Benjamin Juma and his team took control of the White House, Hodges received a phone call from the African dictator while he was eating his dinner in his office at Starkwood and watching the crisis on TV. One of his men, Greg Seaton, answered the phone and handed the call over to his boss. Juma asked for assistance from Hodges in getting to President Allison Taylor, who had locked herself away in a secure room before he and his men had been able to get to her. Hodges pointed out that he had gotten Juma and his men inside and that they had given them the codes to the room in case they were needed. Juma told him that they had shorted the circuitry and that the code was now ineffective. Hodges then refused to assist, and said that he was on his own and that he had upheld his end of the deal. The African dictator informed Jonas that the shipment he was waiting for would be destroyed if he did not help him obtain President Taylor. Hodges finally acquiesced with advice from Seaton and discovered that President Taylor's daughter, Olivia Taylor, was in the White House and that Juma could use her as leverage against the President. When Juma said that he was satisfied and the shipment would remain safe, Hodges ebulliently offered to play Seaton in a game of darts.

Hodges was still watching events unfolding at the White House just as Juma used Olivia to get President Taylor to come out of her secure room.

Shortly thereafter, Seaton informed Hodges of the successful retaking of the White House, Taylor's survival and Juma's demise. Hodges became frustrated, but recovered and told Seaton that their shipment and operation were both still on schedule. He asked Seaton if the weapons had arrived and to get them to the teams as soon as possible. When he observed that Seaton was acting tense, he ordered his subordinate to relax and have a drink. Hodges then discussed targets from all across the Eastern United States with one of his men and inquired as to how high the casualty rates would be. The man responded that each was around 10,000 people and Hodges commented that he hoped they would never have to find out the exact number.

When Jack Bauer was released from federal custody and allowed to interrogate Ryan Burnett, Seaton informed his boss that Bauer was heading to the hospital where Burnett was recovering. Hodges, realizing that Burnett could divulge his entire plan to Bauer, ordered Burnett silenced, but Seaton told him that he had already taken care of it and that his man John Quinn would eliminate both Burnett and Bauer. Hodges observed that Quinn was good, but so was Bauer. When Quinn had finished his job of framing Bauer for Burnett's death, he contacted Seaton on the phone, who then relayed the message to Hodges. Leaning back in his chair, Hodges smiled and said, "Now we're having some fun."

A few minutes later, Quinn called Hodges and informed him that Bauer escaped from the hospital and is now being pursued by the FBI. Hodges told him to call him with any new developments. Seaton told his boss that the shipment was on schedule but also voiced his opinion that if Bauer wasn't found by the FBI and linked them to Juma, their plot would be discovered. Hodges assured his subordinate that their plan couldn't be stopped even if Bauer was able to uncover the conspiracy. When he sensed that Seaton wasn't as optimistic, he went into a heated tirade about how the loss of life that was to follow would be horrific, but necessary and that one life lost was a tragedy to him. Hodges claimed that that what they were about to do would demanded sacrifice and that it would all be worth it in the end.

Background information and notes

 * Jon Voight, who played Jonas Hodges, joins Dennis Haysbert as the only two actors who have been credited as a "Special Guest Appearance by."

Day 7
Quotes: "Wake up our colleagues and have them assembled in one hour. And tell them to pack their pajamas and their toothbrushes.  Its gonna be a long night."