Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty to five felony counts on Friday, including bribery and fraud charges, during a short appearance in a Lower Manhattan courtroom. He is accused of taking more than $100,000 in illegal gifts in exchange for using his political influence to help Turkey.
Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker ordered Mr. Adams not to discuss the case with any witnesses. She released him on his own recognizance and did not require him to surrender his passport.
The arraignment lasted less than 20 minutes, with Mr. Adams giving brief responses to the judge’s questions. He said he understood his rights, and he declined to have the 57-page indictment, which was unsealed Thursday, read aloud in court.
When he was not addressing the judge, Mr. Adams, wearing a dark suit, sat quietly at the defense table next to his lawyer Alex Spiro. Mr. Adams must return to court for another hearing on Wednesday. Mr. Spiro said he would ask then for the charges to be dismissed.
After the hearing, Mr. Spiro spoke outside the courthouse and repeated Mr. Adams’s claim that he was a victim of a targeted investigation. While supporters and hecklers chanted, Mr. Adams stood by silently, and then he and his lawyer entered a black S.U.V. that whisked them away.
Mr. Adams has been charged with bribery conspiracy, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. He is accused of orchestrating a “straw donor” scheme to generate illicit matching funds for his mayoral campaign, in which overseas contributors funneled donations through people in the United States, according to prosecutors.
Federal law prohibits U.S. candidates from soliciting or receiving foreign donations. The city’s matching-funds program matches the first $250 of a resident’s donation eight to one, and the Adams campaign received more than $10 million in matching funds.
In a five-count indictment unsealed on Thursday, federal prosecutors detailed years of graft that involved Mr. Adams accepting free or heavily discounted international flights and plush overseas accommodations, starting when he was Brooklyn borough president and continuing after he became mayor in 2022.
“I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense,” Mr. Adams said. He vowed to stay in office and to fight the charges.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove the mayor, said in a statement Thursday evening that she had carefully reviewed the indictment and urged Mr. Adams to consider whether he was still able to effectively serve New Yorkers.
Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who brought the charges, said on Thursday that Mr. Adams had been “showered” with gifts that he knew were illegal and tried to conceal.
In return, prosecutors said, Mr. Adams helped Turkish officials with issues in New York City. Most notably, Mr. Adams in 2021 pressured officials at the Fire Department to permit a new Turkish consulate building in Manhattan, despite safety problems, the indictment said.
If Mr. Adams is convicted of all five counts in the indictment, the maximum penalty would be 45 years in prison. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, he would most likely receive far less.
The judge in the case, Dale E. Ho, set a second hearing for Wednesday morning to discuss the trial schedule and other issues.
