Why was Adams indicted NYC Mayor Eric Adams became the Big Apple’s first sitting mayor to be indicted by a grand jury Wednesday. Adams is alleged to have accepted $10 million dollars in illegal campaign contributions and bribes including cushy travel upgrades in an indictment unsealed Thursday. Adams accepted the illicit gifts from a Turkish government official for over a decade as part of a “multi-year scheme to buy favor,” US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a press conference Thursday.
“In 2014, Eric Adams, the defendant, became Brooklyn Borough President. Thereafter, for nearly a decade, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him,” the indictment charges. In return for the alleged payouts, Adams pressured Big Apple officials to waive inspections and push through approval for the Turkish Consulate in Manhattan, the indictment charges.
What are his charges? Mayor Adams is charged with one count of conspiracy to receive campaign contributions from foreign nationals and commit wire fraud and bribery, one count of wire fraud, two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and one count of soliciting and accepting a bribe according to a DOJ press release. What could his punishment look like Adams could face up to 45 years in prison if .