Dwayne Montgomery, a retired police inspector who was as soon as pleasant with Mayor Eric Adams, pleaded responsible on Monday to misdemeanor conspiracy, saying that he had directed straw donors to contribute to the mayor’s 2021 marketing campaign.
Mr. Montgomery was indicted in July by the Manhattan district lawyer’s workplace, accused of a scheme to funnel contributions to the marketing campaign and to hide the supply of donations.
In his plea Monday, Mr. Montgomery, 64, agreed to not arrange or host any fund-raisers or solicit contributions for a marketing campaign for one yr. In return, the district lawyer, Alvin L. Bragg, mentioned that he would advocate that Mr. Montgomery full 200 hours of group service and pay a $500 effective.
The mayor was not implicated within the indictment and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. When the costs turned public, his marketing campaign spokesman, Evan Thies, thanked Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors for “their laborious work on behalf of taxpayers.”
Mr. Montgomery, who as soon as labored and socialized with the mayor, was indicted together with 5 different defendants. Two brothers who run a building agency that was additionally charged within the indictment, Shahid Mushtaq and Yahya Mushtaq, pleaded responsible in October. A plea settlement signed by a lawyer for his or her firm indicated that they’d cooperate with the district lawyer’s workplace.
There isn’t any such language in Mr. Montgomery’s settlement and no indication he’s cooperating. The seven months between the indictment and his responsible plea would have left prosecutors time to interview him. It’s not identified if he supplied broader details about marketing campaign finance crimes.
Mr. Montgomery lawyer’s, Anthony L. Ricco, acknowledged that his shopper had made a mistake, however mentioned that whereas Mr. Montgomery had sought to assist his buddy, the mayor, he had by no means sought any profit in return. Mr. Ricco mentioned that his shopper’s involvement was restricted, that he had no direct contact with Mr. Adams and that he had accepted accountability from the day he was arrested.
“Did he cross the road? Sure, he did,” Mr. Ricco mentioned. However, he added, “The underside line is Dwayne is a political neophyte — he isn’t a hustler.”
A spokesman for the district lawyer’s workplace declined to remark.
New York Metropolis’s marketing campaign finance legislation was central to the conduct detailed within the July indictment.
To assist candidates with out entry to large donors, New York Metropolis matches the primary $250 of a metropolis resident’s donation eight to at least one.
The indictment mentioned the defendants tried to cover the supply of enormous donations by funneling them by means of the so-called straw donors — individuals who make marketing campaign contributions utilizing another person’s cash. That allow the marketing campaign accumulate extra metropolis matching funds and will have helped the defendants win affect with the incoming administration. It’s unclear how a lot public cash was spent because of the scheme.
Mr. Adams’s fund-raising practices have drawn scrutiny from each native and federal legislation enforcement businesses. Straw donor schemes have been a selected focus. Final week, the information group The Metropolis reported that such donors had been utilized by resort and building executives to channel greater than $10,000 to the mayor’s re-election marketing campaign.
Mr. Montgomery’s responsible plea is probably going to attract extra consideration to the mayor, as Mr. Adams gears up for his 2025 re-election marketing campaign.
On Monday, Mr. Adams defended his marketing campaign operation at a information convention, saying that, in accordance with the legislation, he required all donors to affirm that they had been giving the marketing campaign their very own cash, and that he had additionally employed a compliance lawyer to look at donations.
“We returned again tens of 1000’s of donations that didn’t observe that muster,” the mayor mentioned. “We did the inner scrutiny we’re speculated to do.”
He mentioned that, after the responsible plea, Mr. Montgomery ought to be allowed to go on along with his life, saying, “The worst day of your life doesn’t outline your life.” He mentioned he had not communicated along with his former buddy because the indictment, but when he had been to see him, he would need him the most effective.
Extra broadly, the mayor’s two-year-old administration has been tormented by investigations and allegations of impropriety.
In September, Mr. Bragg indicted Eric Ulrich, Mr. Adams’s former buildings commissioner and former senior adviser, on prices of taking greater than $150,000 in bribes.
The mayor’s group can be going through a federal investigation into whether or not the mayor’s 2021 marketing campaign conspired with the Turkish authorities to obtain international donations.
That investigation burst into public view in November, when federal brokers searched the house of Brianna Suggs, 25, Mr. Adams’s chief fund-raiser, who was given the distinguished place regardless of her youth and lack of expertise.
The identical day, federal brokers searched the properties of Rana Abbasova, an aide in Mr. Adams’s worldwide affairs workplace, and Cenk Öcal, a former Turkish Airways government who served on his transition group.
Days later, federal brokers seized the mayor’s digital units, an unusually aggressive transfer.
Later that month, Mr. Adams introduced that Ms. Suggs was not doing fund-raising for his marketing campaign.
