Accused orchestrator of illegal straw donor scheme for Adams 2021 campaign pleads guilty

Retired NYPD inspector Dwayne Montgomery pleaded guilty Monday to one count of fifth-degree conspiracy for his role in an alleged straw donor scheme to boost Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign.

Montgomery will be barred from organizing any political fundraisers and soliciting campaign donations for at least one year. He will also be required to pay a $500 fine and complete 200 hours of community service at the nonprofit Brooklyn Combine, which supports young people in underserved communities.

Montgomery is not expected to serve jail time for the class A misdemeanor, as long as he is not rearrested, Judge Althea Drysdale said at Manhattan Criminal Court.

Formal sentencing for Montgomery is anticipated in April. He was one of six men charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office last July in the alleged straw donor scheme. Two of the other men pleaded guilty last fall.

Montgomery's attorneys declined to comment to a Gothamist reporter after his court appearance Monday morning.

Straw donors are people who receive money to contribute to a political campaign in their own names to circumvent official limits on donations. In New York City, such schemes can exploit the city's longstanding public matching program, which provides qualifying campaigns with taxpayer money based on how many small-dollar donations they bring in.

Federal officials are also investigating Adams’ campaign fundraising and seized his phone last year. Neither the mayor nor his campaign have been accused of wrongdoing and both have said they are cooperating with authorities.

At an unrelated press conference later Monday, Adams said his campaign took various steps to ensure straw donor money would not end up in its coffers, including having a compliance attorney and instructing donors to only give their own money.

“I know we did the internal scrutiny we’re supposed to do,” he said, adding that the DA’s office would handle the matter.

Adams also said he has not communicated with Montgomery — with whom he came up through the NYPD ranks — “since this incident happened,” and that he wished the best for him. “He pled guilty and I think he should be allowed to go on with his life,” the mayor said.

Montgomery, dressed in a black suit and red tie, sat between two attorneys with his shoulders slightly hunched during the court appearance, which lasted about 25 minutes. After signing the plea agreement, he answered a series of questions from Drysdale.

The judge warned him he could face jail time should he be arrested again before his sentencing, and asked if he understood.

“Absolutely, your honor,” Montgomery said.

A 32-page indictment last July accused Montgomery, Shamsuddin Riza, Millicent Redick, Ronald Peek, Yahya Mushtaq, Shahid Mushtaq and the construction safety firm EcoSafety Consultants of exploiting the city’s campaign laws to “fraudulently obtain tens of thousands of dollars in matching funds” through straw donors, including the defendants’ employees.

According to Bragg’s office, the group recruited and reimbursed straw donors for contributing to Adams’ 2021 campaign. The city’s public financing program provides funding matches of up to 8:1 for the first $250 of eligible donations.

In a statement after Montgomery accepted the plea deal, Adams' campaign attorney Vito Pitta said the campaign "has always and will always follow the law."

"We endeavor to ensure contributors know the rules — including training campaign staff on how to identify potentially problematic contributions, advising contributors about restrictions on contributions, requiring contributors to affirm in writing that their contributions are lawful, and scrutinizing all contributions received before accepting them," he said. "However, some people still violate the rules."

Last October, Shahid and Yahya Mushtaq, two brothers who ran Queens-based EcoSafety Consultants, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor conspiracy charges related to the alleged straw donor scheme, court records show.

Prosecutors said they listened in on phone calls between Montgomery and others named in the indictment where the defendants discussed how to elicit donations that would yield the matching funds.

In one call, according to the DA’s office, Montgomery said Adams “doesn’t want to do anything if he doesn’t get 25Gs.” In another, Montgomery allegedly explained how to make multiple donations under different names to unlock public matching funds.

“It has to be in someone else’s name in their household who did not contribute,” he said, according to the indictment. “I got me, my brother, and my son, my wife, and my mother-in-law.”

The indictment accused Montgomery of transferring money to straw donors via the payment services Cash App and Zelle on the same day they contributed to the campaign. It also cites emails Montgomery is accused of sending to his co-conspirators, inviting them to meetings with Adams.

Montgomery organized fundraisers for the mayor’s campaign in 2020 and 2021, according to the indictment. He was charged with conspiracy, attempted grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing.

“I would see Dwyane at events,” Adams previously said of his relationship with Montgomery. “He was very well known in Harlem.”

Elizabeth Kim and Andrew Giambrone contributed reporting. This story has been updated with additional information.