Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Mayor Adams’ recently resigned chief advisor, and her adult son surrendered at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office Thursday morning ahead of their expected arraignment on bribery charges.
Lewis-Martin and her son, Glenn Martin II, arrived at Bragg’s office in downtown Manhattan around 7:30 a.m.
Lewis-Martin smiled and exchanged some quick words with officers assigned to the DA’s office while her son stayed quiet before they both walked inside. They are expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.
They will face charges alongside two businessmen, who allegedly gave a $100,000 loan to Lewis-Martin’s son so he could buy a Porsche after Lewis-Martin helped them with a city Department of Buildings issue that had held up one of their hotel construction projects, the New York Times first reported Wednesday.
Lewis-Martin is a longtime friend of Adams and one of his closest confidantes, having worked for him going back to his days as a state senator representing Brooklyn. She abruptly resigned from her powerful post as City Hall’s chief adviser Sunday — just hours before news broke that she would soon be facing charges. Her son, a professional DJ who goes by “Suave Luciano,” is also close with Adams and refers to the mayor as his “uncle.”
Lewis-Martin’s departure was the latest in a string of high-profile resignations from City Hall as Adams remains under federal indictment on charges alleging he solicited bribes and illegal campaign cash, mostly from Turkish government operatives, in exchange for political favors.
Previously, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Schools Chancellor David Banks, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, senior public safety adviser Tim Pearson and Asian affairs director Winnie Greco all resigned after being ensnared in several separate federal corruption probes.
Adams has pleaded not guilty, while Lewis-Martin told reporters Monday — before the specifics of the charges against her were known — that she would be “falsely accused of something.” Besides the mayor, she’s the most high-profile Adams administration official to face criminal charges.
Investigators with the DA’s office seized Lewis-Martin’s phone and searched her Brooklyn home right after she returned to JFK Airport from a trip to Japan in September. Federal agents also served her with a subpoena at the airport requiring her to provide grand jury testimony and documents in the probe that resulted in the mayor’s indictment.
The DA’s office has declined to comment on details of its investigation into Lewis-Martin. Bragg is expected to hold a press conference to discuss the charges against Lewis-Martin, her son and the two businessmen before her afternoon arraignment.
Mayor Eric Adams and Ingrid Lewis-Martin during a press conference at City Hall on May 28. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)
Also in September, DA investigators seized devices from several individuals who accompanied Lewis-Martin on her Japan trip, including Jesse Hamilton, a former state senator who now manages the Adams administration’s vast real estate portfolio, and Diana Boutross, a top broker at the Cushman & Wakefield real estate firm.
The Boutross and Hamilton seizures are believed to be part of an investigation looking into possible corruption in the city government’s commercial real leasing sector. No one has been publicly accused of wrongdoing in connection with that inquiry to date.