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5 high-profile court cases to watch in NYC in 2026
By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Dec 29, 2025
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Photo by John Lamparski / Getty Images
By
Walter Wuthmann
Published Dec 29, 2025
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Several high-profile cases in New York saw their resolution in 2025. A federal jury convicted hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs of two prostitution counts while acquitting him of several more serious charges. A corruption probe involving Mayor Eric Adams taking Turkish bribes fell apart after the mayor apparently struck a deal with President Trump.
As the calendar now flips, here are five major court cases we’ll be watching in the new year.
City Hall corruption case
Although the federal case against Mayor Adams is over, the local case against one of Adams’ top deputies continues. Former chief advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the so-called “Lioness of City Hall,” is charged with accepting more than $175,000 in bribes to steer contracts and influence development projects.
Mayor Eric Adams and senior aide Ingrid Lewis-Martin at a press conference.
Ed Reed / Mayoral Photography Office
Prosecutors say Lewis-Martin helped an Adams donor named Tian Ji Li receive a $1.2 million contract to provide housing for asylum seekers. Lewis-Martin is accused of telling a City Hall employee “whatever site TJ wants, I need him to get them. Because that’s our f---ing people.” In exchange, prosecutors say Li wired $50,000 to a bank account controlled by Lewis-Martin’s son.
Lewis Martin has pleaded not guilty. Her next court appearance is Jan. 7.
**'**Operation Royal Flush'
The details from the indictment is the stuff movie plots are made of: Federal prosecutors say associates from three of New York’s five organized crime families rigged poker games in luxury Manhattan apartments and employed NBA celebrities to lure in unwitting gamblers. Thirty-one people are charged in this alleged massive scheme, including Gambino associate Angelo Ruggiero Jr. and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. The name of the federal investigation? “Operation Royal Flush.”
Some of the defendants in the poker case are also charged in a separate indictment that alleges they used inside information to place illegal bets on NBA games. Defendants are due back in Brooklyn federal court in March. The judge said he’s aiming for a September trial.
Luigi Mangione
Mangione faces state and federal murder charges after, prosecutors say, he killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione attended weeks of suppression hearings in Manhattan Criminal Court in December, which drew crowds of media and supporters.
Defense attorneys argue police officers did not read Mangione his Miranda rights and did not have a proper warrant when they interrogated him and searched his backpack at a Pennsylvania McDonald's last December. Prosecutors say police did nothing wrong, and that the evidence officers recovered ties the 27-year-old to Thompson's shooting.
Judge Gregory Carro said he’ll issue a ruling on those matterns in May. He has not yet set a trial date.
Mangione has a hearing in his separate federal case Jan. 9. Those charges carry the possibility of the death penalty. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Citibank fraud case
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Citibank two years ago, saying the bank’s lax security had cost its New York customers “millions of dollars, and in some instances, their entire lifesavings.” Citibank is based in New York and is the third-largest bank in the United States.
New York Attorney General Letitia James
New York Attorney General via Flickr
The lawsuit says Citibank doesn’t do enough to deter online scammers, misleads people about their rights after their accounts are hacked and illegally denies reimbursement to victims of fraud.
Citibank, which is asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, has said it uses industry-standard practices that satisfy the law.
Secret Chinese police station
Federal prosecutors say the Chinese government was running a secret police station above a noodle shop in lower Manhattan. The FBI in 2023 arrested two men, Chen Jinping and “Harry” Lu Jianwang, and accused them of using the station to monitor and harass dissidents. Prosecutors say the outpost, which occupied the entire floor of an office building in Chinatown, was the first known secret police station in the U.S. operating on behalf of the Chinese government.
Jinping pleaded guilty last December to acting as a foreign agent in connection with the scheme. He faces up to five years in prison. Jianwang has pleaded not guilty, and prosecutors expect the judge will set a trial date sometime this spring.
The case is one of several brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York involving Chinese influence in recent years.
Tagged
Politics
new york city
public safety
Walter Wuthmann
Walter Wuthmann is a reporter covering public safety and the legal system.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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