Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
A look inside the decision that ended the criminal case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams
By
Samantha Max
Published Apr 2, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
By
Samantha Max
Published Apr 2, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A federal judge ended New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ legal saga with a scathing ruling Wednesday, with the judge suggesting that the Department of Justice could be using Adams’ case to advance President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
Adams pleaded not guilty in September to charges that he accepted flight upgrades, lavish hotel accommodations and illegal campaign donations in exchange for political favors. Then, after Trump took office, his appointees in the DOJ directed New York prosecutors to stop pursuing the case — at least until after the mayoral election. They argued in part that it was impeding Adams’ ability to focus on immigration enforcement. The acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York said the mayor’s attorneys had been pushing for a quid pro quo with the Trump administration and resigned in protest, followed by several other prosecutors.
In a 78-page decision, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho said he’s dismissing the mayor’s case with no chance of bringing it back, so Adams won’t be “beholden” to the federal government’s demands.
“Such an arrangement would be bad for Mayor Adams, and it would be bad for the people of New York City,” Ho wrote. “And the court cannot be complicit in it.”
Here are the highlights from Ho’s ruling:
Judge Ho has serious concerns about the DOJ’s motives
When DOJ officials asked Ho to dismiss the mayor’s charges in February, they argued that the case would interfere with his ability to govern New York City, posing a threat to public safety and federal immigration initiatives.
Ho called this justification “unprecedented and breathtaking in its sweep.”
He noted that the mayor’s lawyer sent a letter to DOJ officials outlining various ways the mayor could help with immigration enforcement. Then, just days after the DOJ directed prosecutors in New York City to dismiss his case, Adams took one of the steps he outlined in the letter. On Feb. 13, he announced plans to issue an executive order allowing ICE to operate on Rikers Island.
The judge said Adams’ Rikers decision showed the case was not getting in the way of his ability to help with immigration enforcement.
“Instead, it shows that after [the DOJ] decided to seek dismissal of his case, the mayor took at least one new immigration-related action consistent with the preferences of the new administration,” Ho wrote. “Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”
Ho said he didn’t determine whether there was an “explicit bargain” to drop Adams’ charge. But if there was a quid pro quo, he wrote, it would amount to “egregious” prosecutorial misconduct.
Ho said there’s no evidence that the prosecutors who brought the case broke any rules
The DOJ also told Judge Ho that he should dismiss Adams’ case because of “appearances of impropriety.” It argued that, under the prior administration, prosecutors brought the indictment too close to the 2025 mayoral election.
But Ho said neither Adams nor the DOJ pointed to any rules that bar prosecutors from charging a politician nine months before an election, as in this case.
“It is also difficult to imagine how such a rule could work in practice without effectively gutting public corruption laws,” he wrote, because elections happen so often.
Ho also said there's no evidence that Damian Williams, the former U.S. attorney who brought the case, acted improperly when he wrote an op-ed about corruption in politics.
Ho said he carefully read the op-ed and found that it largely focused on state politics, not city. One line that said New York City was being “led with a broken moral compass” could be referring to Adams, he said, but didn’t violate court rules. The judge noted that the investigation started before Williams took office and continued after he left.
Ho said the DOJ’s arguments about perceived impropriety were likely a “distraction” from the real reasons officials wanted to dismiss the case.
“There is no evidence — zero — that they had any improper motives,” he wrote.
The judge said the dismissal is “not a perfect solution”
Ho made clear in his ruling that he’s not weighing in on whether Adams is innocent or guilty. He also declined to conduct a more thorough investigation into whether the mayor agreed to help the Trump administration so his charges would be dropped — an allegation that the mayor's attorneys and Trump administration officials have both denied.
“Some will undoubtedly find today’s decision unsatisfying,” Ho wrote.
But the judge said his powers are limited in cases like this, where prosecutors have asked a court to dismiss criminal charges. He said his job is to oversee cases, not to decide whether they should move forward. And he said he can’t force the DOJ to pursue the case.
“It is precisely in the most difficult cases that it is most critical to adhere to constitutional principles,” Ho wrote. “That includes recognizing the limits of this court’s constitutional authority consistent with the separation of powers. “
Ho said he does have the authority in one way to go against the DOJ’s wishes: by dismissing the charges with prejudice, meaning that they couldn’t be revived later on. The Trump administration wanted Ho to drop the case without prejudice, which would have allowed federal prosecutors to bring back the indictment “at essentially any time, and for essentially any reason,” the judge wrote.
Ho said leaving open the possibility of a later trial could amount to “prosecutorial harassment” against the mayor.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
Politics
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Gatorade recall affects drinks sold in New York and New Jersey
More than 122,000 cases are being recalled over undeclared food dyes.
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Oct 5, 2026 at 4:36 p.m. ET
Gov. Hochul declares upstate NY measles outbreak a ‘disaster emergency’
The declaration is driven by rising case counts in rural areas and in neighboring Pennsylvania.
By
Caroline Lewis
News
Gov. Hochul declares upstate NY measles outbreak a ‘disaster emergency’
The declaration is driven by rising case counts in rural areas and in neighboring Pennsylvania.
By
Caroline Lewis
NYPD detective forced to retire after false statements in Brooklyn investigation
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani faces pressure to forge ahead with plan to fix polluting South Bronx market
By
Elizabeth Kim
Dominican man who shot border patrol officer in NYC sentenced to 15 years in prison
By
Samantha Max
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .