Ex-NYPD officer admits illegal donations were funneled to Eric Adams

Dwayne Montgomery, a retired police inspector who was once friends with Mayor Eric Adams, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy, saying he directed straw donors to contribute to the mayor's 2021 campaign.

Mr. Montgomery was indicted in July by the Manhattan district attorney's office, accused of a scheme to funnel campaign contributions to the mayor and conceal the source of the donations.

In his plea Monday, Mr. Montgomery, 64, agreed not to fundraise or organize or solicit campaign contributions for one year. In return, the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, said he would recommend that Mr. Montgomery perform 200 hours of community service and pay a $500 fine.

The mayor was not involved in the charges and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. When the allegations became public, his campaign spokesman, Evan Thies, thanked Mr. Bragg's accusers for “their hard work on behalf of taxpayers.”

Mr. Montgomery, who once worked and associated with the mayor, was charged along with five other defendants. Two brothers who run a construction company also charged in the indictment, Shahid Mushtaq and Yahya Mushtaq, pleaded guilty in October. A settlement agreement signed by an attorney for their company indicated they would cooperate with the district attorney's office.

Such language is absent from Mr Montgomery's agreement and there is no indication that he is cooperating. The seven months between the indictment and his guilty plea would have given prosecutors time to question him. It is not known whether he provided broader information about campaign finance crimes.

A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service declined to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Montgomery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

New York City campaign finance law was central to the conduct described in the July indictment.

To help candidates who don't have access to major donors, New York City will match the first $250 of a city resident's donation eight to one.

According to the indictment, the defendants attempted to conceal the source of large donations by funneling them through so-called straw donors — people who make campaign contributions with someone else's money. This allowed the campaign to raise more city matching funds and could have helped the defendants gain influence with the new administration. It is unclear how much government money has been spent as a result of the scheme.

Mr. Adams' fundraising practices have drawn criticism from both local and federal law enforcement agencies. Straw donor programs have received special attention. Last week, the news organization The City reported that such donors were used by hotel and construction managers to funnel more than $10,000 to the mayor's re-election campaign.

Mr. Montgomery's guilty plea is likely to draw more attention to the mayor as Mr. Adams gears up for his 2025 re-election campaign.

On Monday, Mr. Adams defended his campaign operation at a news conference, saying that, in accordance with the law, he required all donors to give the campaign their own money, and that he had also hired a compliance attorney to investigate donations.

“We have returned tens of thousands of donations that did not meet this call,” the mayor said. “We have done the internal audit that we should have done.”

He said Mr Montgomery should move on with his life after pleading guilty, saying: “The worst day of your life does not define your life.” He said he had not communicated with his former friend since the charges, but that he would wish him well if he saw him.

More broadly, the mayor's two-year-old administration has been plagued by investigations and accusations of impropriety.

In September, Mr. Bragg indicted Eric Ulrich, Mr. Adams' former buildings commissioner and former senior adviser, on charges of taking more than $150,000 in bribes.

The mayor's team also faces a federal investigation into whether the mayor's 2021 campaign colluded with the Turkish government to receive foreign donations.

That investigation became public in November when federal agents searched the home of Brianna Suggs, 25, Mr. Adams' top fundraiser, who rose to the high-profile position despite her youth and lack of experience.

That same day, federal agents searched the homes of Rana Abbasova, an assistant in Mr. Adams' international affairs office, and Cenk Öcal, a former Turkish Airlines executive who was part of his transition team.

Days later, federal agents seized the mayor's electronic devices, an unusually aggressive move.

Later that month, Mr. Adams announced that Ms. Suggs was no longer raising money for his campaign.

William K. Rashbaum reporting contributed.