Days after resigning from her role, the longtime top adviser to New York Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty after prosecutors indicted her on bribery charges. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought indictments against Ingrid Lewis-Martin, her son Glenn Martin II and two real estate investors.
“We allege that Ingrid Lewis-Martin engaged in a long running bribery, money laundering and conspiracy scheme by using her position and authority as the chief adviser to the New York City mayor, the second highest position in city government, to illegally influence city decisions in exchange [for] in excess of $100,000 in cash and other benefits for herself and her son, Glenn Martin II,” Bragg said in a press conference on Thursday, Dec. 19.
The indictment says the investors asked Lewis-Martin for help with approvals for projects that included a rooftop bar and a hotel.
They paid $100,000 to Lewis-Martin’s son, who used the money to purchase a $113,000 Porsche last year. The New York Post obtained a photo of Martin when he purportedly bought the car.
Lewis-Martin denied any wrongdoing and says she has been “falsely accused.” However, she has also been at the center of a federal investigation into allegations of corruption in the mayor’s office.
Two previous NYPD chiefs, Edward Caban and Thomas Donlon, stepped aside after federal investigations probed their conduct.
Adams, meanwhile, faces federal corruption charges that the Justice Department brought in September. In the indictment, prosecutors allege he took bribes from Turkish government officials and businessmen.
Adams has a trial on those federal charges scheduled for April 2025. But in his comments, Bragg said the charges against Lewis-Martin do not allege any criminal conduct on the mayor’s part.
“The mayor is not a target of our investigation and we do not have evidence of criminal conduct by the mayor,” Bragg said.
