New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ top aide, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, and her son will likely face bribery charges.
According to the New York Post, she is the latest and highest-profile city official to be indicted following the September shakedown of Adams’ administration and its alleged illegal practices.
In the early hours of Dec. 19, as Lewis-Martin entered the Manhattan Criminal Court to surrender to authorities. Her son, Glenn Martin II, followed.
Prosecutors have accused Lewis-Martin of helping progress construction plans prompted by two businessmen, who then gave her son a $100,000 loan to purchase a Porsche.. One of the men, hotelier Mayank Dwivedi, will also face charges over the matter.
Ahead of her impending indictment, Lewis-Martin abruptly resigned from Adams’ administration. Adams has yet to step down as mayor.
“I’m here falsely accused of something,” said the 63-year-old during a Dec. 16 news conference. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know that I was told that it’s something that’s illegal, and I have never done anything illegal in my capacity in government.”
She stood outside the Midtown office of her attorney, Arthur Aidala, who accused the Manhattan prosecutors of trying to redeem their image following Daniel Penny’s acquittal. Penny was tried for applying a fatal chokehold on homeless man Jordan Neely on a New York City subway.
“They wanted a press conference. They wanted headlines. And sadly, that’s because politics has really infiltrated the justice system,” said Aidala, who once represented Harvey Weinstein and Rudy Giuliani. “We all know that the Manhattan DA’s office took a big black eye last week…with the Penny verdict.”
He added, “We’re preparing for an indictment to come down, and I am sure it will be written in a way that sounds damning. And again, pieces of puzzles are going to be put together to make it look as horrible as possible. But we know the truth. And the truth is that Ingrid Lewis-Martin never broke the law.”
Adams has refused to comment at length about Lewis-Martin’s new legal battle, but he did refer to her as “longtime friend and sister.”
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