Charges against – With Eric Adams out of office and not facing charges himself, federal and local prosecutors are still pushing cases tied to his inner circle, including the arrest of his former chief of staff, Frank Carone, and ongoing litigation involving Ingrid Lewis-Martin.
When Frank Carone walked into federal custody, it wasn’t just another arrest in New York City’s long corruption saga. It was the latest turn in a story that began inside Eric Adams’ administration and kept reaching outward long after Adams left elected office.
On Wednesday. Carone. Adams’ former chief of staff. was arrested on federal charges alleging he accepted $120. 000 in bribes in exchange for steering a multimillion-dollar migrant shelter contract to a Queens hotel. Three others, including Carone’s brother, were also indicted. All have pleaded not guilty.
Carone’s case lands in a wider web that has repeatedly implicated people close to Adams. even as Adams himself—indicted in 2024 on bribery allegations—was later spared prosecution. Adams is a Democrat. he denied any wrongdoing. and those charges were later dropped at the behest of the Trump administration.
That timeline, and the fact that the fallout has continued even after Adams’ own case ended, is now driving the latest phase of scrutiny: the question of how far the influence network extended, and why so many of its most visible figures have been the ones still standing trial.
Adams’ bribery case was tied to alleged deals with Turkish officials. but the fight over whether he could be prosecuted quickly became part of a larger political dispute. The indictment accused Adams of taking illegal campaign contributions from Turkish officials and providing political favors in return. It was also tied to allegations that he allowed Turkish officials and other businesspeople to buy his influence through illegal campaign contributions and steep discounts on overseas trips.
Among the favors prosecutors said Adams provided was accelerating the opening of Turkey’s diplomatic building in New York. Adams denied wrongdoing. and he insisted—without evidence—that the Biden administration had politically targeted his administration because of his criticism of its immigration policy.
But after President Donald Trump returned to the White House in early 2025, Justice Department leadership ordered Manhattan federal prosecutors to drop the case. Prosecutors said the rationale was that the case was hindering the mayor’s ability to assist Trump’s immigration crackdown.
That drop didn’t end the damage. The investigation severely wounded Adams’ efforts last year to seek reelection. He skipped the Democratic primary, ran instead as an independent, and eventually ended his campaign early.
The pressure also didn’t stop with Adams. Another closest ally—Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a former top adviser—has been fighting separate bribery charges. She was indicted for allegedly trading political favors for cash, diamond earrings, and a speaking role on a TV show.
In 2024, Lewis-Martin was indicted for allegedly trading her influence for bribes worth more than $100,000 from those with business before the city. She has denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors described multiple schemes. In one instance, they said Lewis-Martin agreed to quash a planned bike lane near a Brooklyn soundstage at the request of the studio’s owners. In return, prosecutors said, she sought perks including a promised role on the police drama “Blue Bloods.”
In another scheme described by prosecutors, Lewis-Martin allegedly accepted diamond earrings and cash from two real estate developers and then helped speed up approvals of their projects—at times overriding safety concerns raised by city regulators.
Lewis-Martin’s attorney, Arthur Aidala—who is also representing Carone—said she was simply helping constituents cut through the city’s thick red tape.
The case against Lewis-Martin was brought by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
While federal charges moved through some key figures, others who departed Adams’ administration have not been charged with a crime. Among them were an adviser to the Chinese community who handed a potato chip bag full of cash to a reporter after an Adams campaign event; the former police commissioner. whose twin brother was accused of extortion by a Brooklyn bar owner; and Adams’ schools chancellor and deputy mayor. also brothers. A third brother, tied to a consulting firm that connected clients with city officials, was also among those named. Each denied wrongdoing, and none has been charged.
Federal authorities have declined to disclose the purpose of their searches and whether any of the investigations remain active.
Even after Adams’ own bribery charges were dropped. prosecutors continued pursuing cases involving some lower-level operatives tied to the broader indictment. A Brooklyn real estate magnate was sentenced to one year of probation last summer after pleading guilty to working with a Turkish government official to funnel illegal donations to Adams’ 2021 campaign. In November. an Adams aide who served as his liaison to the city’s Muslim communities was sentenced to three years of probation for soliciting illegal campaign funds.
Before handing down that sentence, Judge Dale Ho—who also presided over the case against Adams that was dismissed—compared Adams’ absence to an “elephant in the room.”
“There’s a notable absence here of the person at the apex of the pyramid,” he said.
For readers watching the case unfold now. the central tension is hard to miss: Adams may not be facing charges. but the legal momentum around his inner circle has not stopped. Carone’s arrest and Lewis-Martin’s looming hearing show how the investigations tied to City Hall influence continue to play out in real courtrooms—while the man at the center of the original scandal remains on the sidelines of the criminal process.
Eric Adams Frank Carone Ingrid Lewis-Martin migrant shelter contract FBI searches bribery charges New York City corruption probe Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Arthur Aidala Turkish officials