by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Aug 14 – The five-count indictment of NYC Mayor Eric Adams was unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrates Court. Inner City Press was the first one in and live tweeted it. City of Maybe book
The unsealing thread
On September 17 at noon he was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. Thread.
On December 23 the prosecutors wrote in that Erden Arkan, "Businessman-5" in the Adams indictment, intends to plead guilty.
On January 10 Arkan pled guilty, Inner City Press was there and later asked his lawyer if Arkan will testify. There was no answer, but sentencing was put off to August 15, after Adams' trial, with zero to six month guideline.
On August 1, after the case against Adams was dismissed with prejudice, Arkan wrote in asking for one year probation, citing "The Unprecedented Posture of this Case" - 25 page memo on Patreon here
But Arkan's counsel refiled to seal all 53 exhibits, presumably sentencing letter of the kind that Inner City Press recently won a Second Circuit order about improper withholding, Lee v. Greenwood.
On August 8 the US Attorney's Office wrote in asking for one year probation, a fine of at least $9500 and restitution of $18,000 on August 15 -
Inner City Press filed to unseal Arkan's 53 letters, saying the the Second Circuit's decision in Lee v. Greenwood is directly on point and must be applied in this case, before sentencing. Filing here
On August 14 Judge Ho ordered unsealing, ascribing it to error: "The Court granted counsel's request on the same day. See ECF No. 15. The Clerk of Court then sealed not only the Defendant's sentencing submission at ECF No. 12, but also the attachments to it, which had already been redacted by defense counsel, see ECF Nos. 12-1 and 12-2. Because counsel's letter request sought sealing only of Defendant's unredacted sentencing submission, and not of the redacted exhibits attached to it, the sealing of ECF Nos. 12-1 and 12-2 appears to have been in error. Therefore, it is hereby ORDERED that the exhibits attached to Defendant's sentencing submission be unsealed. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to unseal ECF No. 12-1 and 12-2. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Dale E. Ho on 8/14/2025)."
Inner City Press immediately reviewed Dockets 12-1 and 12-2, which still redacted for example Endometriosis Foundation of America, Turkish Kitchen and a supporter who worked at OceanFirst Bank, which settled charges of redlining in 2024...
On August 11 Mohamed Bahi pled guilty - with a plea deal for zero to six months, payment of $32,000, sentencing on November 18, thread
The case is now USA v. Bahi, 1:25-cr-358 (Torres)
More/extra on X for Subscribers here and Substack here
This case is USA v. Arkan, 25-cr-13 (Ho)
The Adams case is USA v. Adams, 1:24-cr-556 (Ho)
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