A federal judge has dismissed a racketeering lawsuit brought by Thomas Donlon, a former interim commissioner of the New York City Police Department, that had accused Mayor Eric Adams and senior figures in his administration of running the NYPD as a “criminal enterprise.” In a ruling released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said Donlon’s complaint failed to satisfy the requirements for racketeering because it did not allege that the defendants acted with “a common purpose.”
Donlon, who was appointed by Adams after the resignation of then-police commissioner Edward Caban, had served as interim commissioner for about two months. The lawsuit, originally filed in July, alleged that Donlon encountered “systemic corruption and criminal conduct” that he said was enabled by Adams and his allies within the department.
According to Donlon’s allegations, the misconduct included routine inflation of overtime, interference with internal investigations, and punishment of whistleblowers. The judge’s dismissal did not credit those claims as sufficient to qualify as racketeering under the legal standard Cote applied.
A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department said the dismissal reflected what they described as the court’s agreement that “no legal basis” existed for the case to continue. An inquiry to Adams’ spokesperson was not answered, according to the report.
Donlon’s attorney, John Scola, said Donlon had already appealed the decision. Scola said Donlon “confronted corruption within the NYPD’s highest ranks and was forced out for refusing to engage in illegal conduct,” and he said they were “confident the Second Circuit will allow his claims to proceed.”
After Donlon stepped aside, Adams replaced him with Jessica Tisch, who continues to lead the police department. Caban, whose resignation preceded Donlon’s appointment, had faced a separate federal probe in which Caban’s phone was seized by federal officials, the report said.
The Donlon lawsuit was one of several actions filed by veteran police officials describing a culture of corruption and cronyism under Adams. In recent weeks, federal prosecutors also brought multiple bribery cases involving former NYPD officials who had served in Adams’ administration, according to the report.