Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Eric Adams’ longtime righthand, indicted

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the longtime close adviser to Mayor Eric Adams, was indicted Thursday on state bribery charges – the latest blow for a mayor whose inner circle has been inundated with legal scrutiny as he himself fights his own federal charges. 

The indictment, unsealed by the Manhattan district attorney on Thursday, alleges that Lewis-Martin used her position as chief adviser to Adams to engage in a “long-running bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy scheme” in exchange for cash and other benefits for her and her son. 

Lewis-Martin surrendered to authorities in Manhattan on Thursday morning and pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday afternoon. Her son also pleaded not guilty, as did the two businessmen named in the indictment.

Among the specific allegations, Lewis-Martin is accused of contacting leaders at the Department of Buildings on behalf of two real estate investors with rejected and stalled applications before the city agency. Those individuals, who are also named as defendants in the indictment, later wrote checks totaling $100,000 to Lewis-Martin’s son, Glenn D. Martin II, who deposited them in a bank account jointly held with Lewis-Martin and then used the funds to purchase a Porsche, according to the indictment. Martin II is also named as a defendant. The indictment also alleges that Lewis-Martin sought to conceal this activity by instructing the businessmen to communicate through the encrypted messaging app Signal and setting the messages to automatically delete.

“The indictment unsealed today can be summarized in three words: Quid pro quo,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a press conference on Thursday. 

The indictment had been anticipated in press reports and prior to its unsealing, Lewis-Martin held a press conference with attorney Arthur Aidala, contending that she did nothing wrong. “I have never done anything illegal in my capacity in government,” she said on Monday.

“The district attorney office’s interpretation of these facts will make no sense to any New York jury. To think that a high ranking city official would take a bribe in the form of a check deposited into their own bank account defies common sense. We look forward to the citizens of the city of New York, who Ingrid has served so admirably for decades, clearing her name after a trial,” Aidala said in a statement Thursday afternoon. 

Though this is the latest indictment to touch City Hall, the mayor himself is not implicated in this case – a point Bragg made clear at his Thursday press conference. “These charges do not allege any criminal conduct by Mayor Eric Adams,” Bragg said. “The mayor is not a target of our investigation.”

Anticipating the impending indictment, Lewis-Martin resigned as Adams’ chief adviser over the weekend. With the exception of the mayor himself, who was indicted in September, she’s the highest-profile city official to face charges. Since the mayor’s indictment, Lewis-Martin is the second former City Hall staffer to face charges. Mohamed Bahi, the former chief liaison to the Muslim community, was charged with witness tampering and destruction of evidence in relation to the investigation into Adams’ 2021 campaign.