Reports indicate a top advisor to Mayor Adams -- who has since resigned -- faces criminal charges. December 18, 2024.
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(New York, NY) – Ingrid Lewis-Martin, who resigned from her position at New York City Hall this past weekend, is expected to surrender on Thursday to face criminal charges. One of Mayor Eric Adams’ closest aides for years, word of Lewis-Martin’s resignation came abruptly — and is reportedly not connected to the mayor’s legal woes.
The word is that Lewis-Martin will report to Manhattan Criminal court at 100 Centre Street Thursday. It’s expected she will be joined by her son, Glenn Martin II, and two other men. Lewis-Martin’s attorney Arthur Aidala has indicated he anticipates his client being charged in connection to improper gifts.
Reports say the two men who will accompany Lewis-Martin when she arrives at court loaned her son $100,000 last year — so he could buy a Porsche. The loan was reportedly issued as a promissory note, though it’s not clear if it was ever repaid. Allegedly, that loan was extended after Lewis-Martin helped the pair resolve a issue with a construction project in one of their hotels. The accusation is she helped smooth over problems with the buildings department.
Aidala says of the investigation that “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 Ingrid Lewis-Martin never broke the law.” Speaking at her lawyer’s Midtown office on Monday, Lewis-Martin said: “I am being falsely accused of something. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know that I was told that it is something that is illegal, and I have never done anything that is illegal in my capacity in government,” she said. “And during my tenure, I have never taken any gifts, money, anything. I have not made any arrangements in advance to take any gifts or money, or to have any gifts or money given to a family member or friend in order for me to do my job.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Adams faces ongoing legal woes of his own — alleging bribery and corruption. Just this week the City Campaign Finance Board denied his campaign public matching funds, citing the indictment he faces. And a judge declined to toss a bribery charge after Adams’ attorneys argued his case did not fit the technical definition of a bribe.
