A former colleague of New York City mayor Eric Adams has accepted a plea deal to admit guilt in a scheme to organize illegal donations to Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign.
Dwayne Montgomery, who served on the New York City Police Department with Mr. Adams, was one of six people that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged in July in a scheme to facilitate illegal campaign donations to the Adams campaign.
Mr. Montgomery, the other defendants, and a management company called EcoSafety Consultants Inc., were all charged with a fifth-degree conspiracy charge, and third-degree attempted grand larceny. Mr. Montgomery was further charged on multiple first-degree counts of offering false instruments for campaign donations, and multiple first-degree counts of attempting to offer false instruments.
The July indictment notes New York City employs a campaign donations matching system, wherein donations of up to $250 from city residents are matched eight to one with city tax dollars. According to the indictment, Mr. Montgomery and the other conspirators arranged for straw donors to send in campaign donations and coordinated to reimburse these straw donors. They allegedly discussed ways to structure these straw donations to avoid campaign contribution limits and qualify for the eight-to-one benefit of matching public funds.
The plea agreement stipulates that the charge to which Mr. Montgomery is admitting guilt carries a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail.
In return for his guilty plea, Mr. Bragg’s office is recommending that Mr. Montgomery face no jail time. Instead, Mr. Bragg’s office requests that Mr. Montgomery be ordered to pay a $500 fine and complete 200 hours of community service through BKLYN Combine, which is described by Mr. Bragg’s office as “a community-based organization that provides educational, leadership, and social support programs to teens and young adults in African-American communities throughout New York City.”
In addition to the fine and community service, the plea agreement states that Mr. Montgomery shall not “organize or host any political fundraiser and shall not solicit contributions on behalf of any campaign for elected office or deliver contributions by any other individual to any campaign for elected office for a one-year period.”
Adams Campaign Scrutinized by FBI
Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign has been at the center of another probe, this one conducted by federal investigators.The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice did not offer a public comment about the case involving Mr. Adams or Ms. Suggs, and Mr. Adams has denied any wrongdoing.
“After learning of the federal investigation, it was discovered that an individual had recently acted improperly. In the spirit of transparency and cooperation, this behavior was immediately and proactively reported to investigators. The Mayor has been and remains committed to cooperating in this matter,” Mr. Adams’s campaign attorney Boyd Johnson said in a November statement.
Mr. Johnson said the his client immediately complied with an FBI request and provided requested electronic devices.
“The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to cooperate with the investigation,” Mr. Johnson added.
