Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a longtime confidante to Mayor Adams who’s already under indictment on bribery accusations, is among a number of players from both inside and outside the administration expected to be hit with new corruption charges this week, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Lewis-Martin, who remains close to Adams and served as his chief adviser at City Hall until she resigned in late 2024 ahead of her first indictment, has been summoned to appear in court Thursday to be arraigned on the new charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, her attorney, Arthur Aidala, confirmed.
“The district attorney has refused to provide any details about the charges,” Aidala said. “Despite a lifetime of service as a law-abiding public servant, Ingrid is being forced to enter court with little information. What she does know is this: she has always served the City with integrity, and she will firmly plead not guilty to every charge.”
A source familiar with the matter told the Daily News the new charges are expected to relate to freebies, like high-end dinners, that Lewis-Martin allegedly took from individuals in exchange for political favors.
The source said the new charges are likely going to be separate from her existing bribery case, brought by Bragg in December, which alleged two real estate investors bribed her and her son, Glenn Martin II, in exchange for the City Hall adviser using her municipal powers to help them with Buildings Department permits and other issues.
Another source said Lewis-Martin is expected to be indicted Thursday alongside her adult son and Jesse Hamilton, another longtime Adams ally who still serves as a deputy commissioner at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
“I’m assuming this has been in the works for darn near a year, that it’s bribery charges,” Mark Pollard, Hamilton’s lawyer, told The News, confirming he expects his client to be indicted Thursday. Martin II hung up the phone on a News reporter after being asked about potential new charges.
Additionally, Gina and Tony Argento, siblings who run television production company Broadway Stages and lobbied against the McGuiness Boulevard redesign project in Brooklyn, are expected to be indicted Thursday alongside Lewis-Martin, sources said. Gina Argento’s attorney said he’s convinced the new charges relate to his client and Lewis-Martin’s opposition to the McGuiness Boulevard project.
The new charges come as Lewis-Martin has reemerged in Adams’ inner circle, playing an active role in his reelection effort, as first reported by The News in June.
Running as an independent in November’s mayoral election, Adams already faces long odds as he faces continued political fallout from his own federal corruption indictment, which was dismissed by President Trump’s Justice Department as part of a controversial arrangement.
“Mayor Adams stands by [Lewis-Martin’s] decades of public service and remains confident that the truth will prevail,” Adams campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro said in response to the forthcoming new charges. “Ingrid has dedicated her life to the people of New York City, and she deserves the presumption of innocence and the support of those who know her best.”
Lewis-Martin resigned from her powerful post at City Hall just days before she was indicted the first time in December. She has pleaded not guilty in that bribery scheme, as have her son and the two businessmen, Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi.
Lewis-Martin, a longtime close friend of the mayor who started working for him in the mid-2000s when he was a state senator, was indicted in December for allegedly using her influence to expedite construction projects on behalf of Vaid and Dwivedi, who in turn gave her professional DJ son $100,000 for a Porsche and pledged to invest in his business ventures.
The Lewis-Martin investigation burst into the public spotlight in September 2024 when she had her electronic devices seized by investigators with the DA’s office after landing at JFK Airport from a trip to Japan.
Also on that trip was Hamilton, who helps oversee the city government’s vast real estate portfolio, and Diana Boutross, a friend to Lewis-Martin who leads much of the city’s commercial leasing as an executive at Cushman & Wakefield, a firm contracted by the city to spearhead the program. Both of their phones were seized by investigators, too.
Investigators from Bragg’s office have for months been looking into Lewis-Martin, Boutross and Hamilton in connection with the city government’s commercial leasing programs. The charges set to be unveiled Thursday do not appear related to that probe.
Hamilton, who oversees the commercial leasing program in his role at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, has faced scrutiny for his work at the agency, including for pushing for Boutross to be the lead executive on Cushman & Wakefield’s contract with his agency.
In October, the City Council convened a hearing to examine Hamilton’s move to go back on a lease for the city’s Department of Aging and instead give it to 14 Wall Street, a property owned by Alexander Rovt, a billionaire who has donated heavily to Adams. Hamilton skipped the hearing.
The New York Times first reported Hamilton, the Argentos and Lewis-Martin’s adult son are also expected to indicted Thursday. It wasn’t immediately clear what roles they played in the scheme expected to be alleged in the new charges.
John Ciafone, Gina Argento’s lawyer, wouldn’t say Wednesday whether his client expects to face charges, but told The News that “if there is” an indictment it stems from her and her brother’s stance against the McGuinness Boulevard redesign project in Brooklyn.
“That’s all I could tell you, this is pretty much based on their opposition to the road diet, that’s what I could tell you, deciding to exercise their First Amendment rights,” Ciafone said.
The project pursued by the city Department of Transportation involved eliminating a car lane on McGuiness Boulevard in northern Brooklyn in order to turn it into a bike path. The Argentos, whose Broadway Stages company is headquartered on the boulevard, strenuously opposed the redesign, as did Lewis-Martin, who advocated inside the Adams administration for the project to be rolled back, eventually resulting in the DOT modifying the plan.
Ciafone confirmed Gina Argento’s phone was seized by DA investigators on the same day in September 2024 Lewis-Martin’s devices were confiscated.
In a statement, George Stamboulidis and Artie McConnell, lawyers for Broadway Stages, attacked Bragg and called the charges against the Argentos, which were not public as of Wednesday evening, “baseless.”
“We are disappointed that the District Attorney has chosen to pursue this matter, ignoring the facts and the law and setting a dangerous precedent where legitimate business decisions and the exercise of First Amendment rights are being mischaracterized as criminal conduct,” the lawyers said.
Originally Published: August 20, 2025 at 1:32 PM EDT
