Former top aide to NYC mayor among 7 facing new charges in City Hall corruption probe

NEW YORK (AP) — A former top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams was hit Thursday with a second wave of bribery charges, with prosecutors alleging she exchanged political favors for cash, home renovations and a speaking role on a TV show.

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ closest confidant and former chief of staff, was among seven people indicted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office in a sweeping expansion of a corruption probe that has dogged the mayor’s administration for two years.

“If you were willing to pay, Ms. Lewis-Martin was open for business,” prosecutor Guy Tardanico said in court.

Adams himself has not been charged and isn’t a target, prosecutors said, but the case thrusts corruption allegations back into focus as the Democrat tries to regain voters’ trust ahead of a contested November election.

Lewis-Martin resigned last December before her indictment in a separate case in which she and her son are accused of taking bribes in exchange for speedy approval of construction projects. They have pleaded not guilty in that case, and it is still pending. Lewis-Martin has continued to volunteer for the Adams campaign while awaiting trial.

Her attorney, Arthur Aidala, vowed to fight the new charges, saying, “This is not justice — it is a distortion of the truth and a troubling example of politically motivated ‘lawfare.’”

Lewis-Martin and the other defendants — including a former state lawmaker and the owners of a Brooklyn film and TV studio — pleaded not guilty and were released without bail.

Lewis-Martin now faces four additional indictments on charges of conspiracy and bribe receiving, in a series of allegations that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described as “classic bribery conspiracies that had a deep and wide-ranging impact on city government.”

In one case, prosecutors say Lewis-Martin pushed the city to nix a planned bike lane redesign of a street near a soundstage studio owned by two of Adams' political donors, siblings Tony and Gina Argento. In exchange, Lewis-Martin received perks including money and a speaking role on the TV show “Godfather of Harlem,” which stars Forest Whitaker and is filmed at the Argentos' Broadway Stages.

Tony Argento also promised to be her “agent” and get her more roles on that show and the police drama “Blue Bloods,” court papers say.

The Argentos, who both pleaded not guilty, generated headlines for bankrolling the campaign against the street's redesign, which the city had vowed to do after a string of pedestrian fatalities. Adams' administration halted the project in 2023, years into its development, amid opposition from both business leaders and Lewis-Martin.

Then, just days after investigators seized Lewis-Martin’s devices last year, the city reversed itself, agreeing to add traffic-calming measures and a bike lane favored by activists.

Lewis-Martin is also accused of steering shelter contracts toward deals that benefited developer Tian Ji Li, who is also charged and pleaded not guilty.

In a 2024 conversation with former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton, who oversaw real estate for city agencies, prosecutors allege she told him: “whatever site TJ wants, I need him to get them. Because that’s our … people,” punctuating the last statement with an expletive. In a later call, Hamilton allegedly assured her: “TJ, he’s, he’s first. He’s first in line.”

Lewis-Martin also pressed city officials to expedite approvals for a karaoke bar Li was building.

In 2023, prosecutors said, Li transferred more than $50,000 he’d received as part of a shelter contract to the karaoke bar, and then wired around the same amount to Lewis-Martin’s son, Glenn D. Martin, who is also charged and pleaded not guilty.

Hamilton is not charged in that incident, but is charged alongside Lewis-Martin for helping developer Yechiel Landau in exchange for renovations on a property she owned, as well as Hamilton's home.

Landau and Hamilton both pleaded not guilty. A mayor’s office spokesperson said Hamilton has resigned from his position with the city.

The new indictments could add to political headwinds already facing the mayor, whose own indictment on federal bribery charges was abandoned by President Donald Trump’s administration earlier this year.

The scandals have weakened Adams and opened the door to challengers in the upcoming election, including the Democratic primary winner, Zohran Mamdani, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Adams is running as an independent, claiming the case brought against him — in which he was accused of accepting bribes and travel perks from foreign interests — prevented him from campaigning in the primary. Those charges were dismissed in April following an extraordinary intervention by U.S. Justice Department officials, who said the case was impeding Adams from assisting in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

In the months since, the status of other federal probes linked to Adams’ key allies, including his former police commissioner and several deputy mayors, has remained uncertain. The new charges were brought by Bragg, who prosecuted Trump last year and who is also running for reelection.

A spokesperson for Adams’ campaign, Todd Shapiro, said Adams “has not been accused of any wrongdoing” and though Lewis-Martin no longer works for his administration, “she has been a friend and colleague of the mayor for over 40 years, and he knows her as a devoted public servant.”

Federal prosecutors last week wrapped up their two remaining Adams-related cases.

Mohamed Bahi, who was the mayor’s chief liaison to the Muslim community, pleaded guilty to soliciting straw donations to Adams’ campaign, and Brooklyn construction magnate Erden Arkan was sentenced to a year of probation for his involvement in a straw donor scheme.

The new charges came a day after a stunning report that a former longtime Adams adviser, who resigned from his administration while under FBI scrutiny, handed a reporter a potato chip bag filled with cash after a campaign event.

Former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton appears for arraignment on corruption charges in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Real Estate developer Tian Li appears for arraignment on corruption charges in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Gina and Tony Argento appear for arraignment on corruption charges in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Former NYC Mayor Eric Adam's Chief of Staff Ingrid Lewis-Martin and son Glenn Martin II appear for arraignment on corruption charges in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Former NYC Mayor Eric Adam's Chief of Staff Ingrid Lewis-Martin appears for arraignment on corruption charges in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton, center, and real estate developer Yechiel Landau, left, appear for corruption charges in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Real estate developer Tian Li, center, appears for corruption charges in Manhattan Supreme Court, in New York Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Tony Argento appears for corruption charges in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Former NYC Mayor Eric Adam's Chief of Staff Ingrid Lewis-Martin, right, and her son Glenn D. Martin II appear for corruption charges in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Glenn D. Martin II, center, leaves Manhattan criminal court after being arraigned on bribery charges along with his mother Ingrid Lewis-Martin on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

Yechiel Landau, center, arrives at Manhattan criminal court to be indicted on bribery charges along with other associates of NYC Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

CORRECTS NAME TO TONY NOT TONI - Tony Argento leaves Manhattan criminal court after getting arraigned on bribery charges on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

Gina Argento, center, departs from Manhattan criminal court after being arraigned on bribery charges on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

The former advisor to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, is escorted into the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

Ingrid Lewis-Martin arrives at Manhattan criminal court to be indicted on criminal charges on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)

FILE - Sen. Jesse Hamilton, D-Brooklyn, right, stands in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol, June 17, 2016, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

FILE - Ingrid Lewis-Martin is escorted into Manhattan criminal court on Dec. 19, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

In Friday's case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon, who can appeal the ruling, hasn’t immediately publicly responded to the ruling. But when the independent counsel demanded a 10-year prison term in the case, Yoon’s defense team accused them of being politically driven and lacking legal grounds to demand such “an excessive” sentence.

Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)