Federal law enforcement officials raided the home of former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey on Thursday, as well as other locations, according to police commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Tisch posted a statement to X Thursday morning that said Maddrey has been suspended, following allegations by a female subordinate that he coerced sexual favors from her in exchange for overtime opportunities.
Maddrey’s suspension without pay comes 12 days after he abruptly announced his resignation in the face of the allegations by the subordinate, Lt. Qauthisa Epps, which were first reported by the New York Post.
Epps filed a complaint on Dec. 21 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission detailing her claims against Maddrey, typically a precursor to a federal lawsuit. She also alleged a wider pattern of overtime abuse within the upper echelon of the police department. Epps earned $205,000 in overtime in the most recent fiscal year, bumping her total compensation to over $400,000.
Maddrey has dismissed his encounters with Epps as a brief “office fling,” while acknowledging the relationship was “inappropriate.” His attorney, Lambros Lambrou, said Maddrey doesn’t sign or approve overtime in his office.
Lambrou didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A spokesperson for the Southern District U.S. Attorney’s office declined comment.
Maddrey is the latest in a long list of close Adams associates who have been the targets of federal law enforcement actions, including home raids and seizures of electronics. The roll call includes his former police commissioner, former schools chancellor, former deputy mayor of public safety, former first deputy mayor, former senior advisor, former Asian affairs advisor, as well as Adams himself.
Adams was indicted by the Southern District U.S. Attorney’s office in September on charges that included bribery and wire fraud related to an alleged scheme to solicit campaign donations tied to foreign nationals of Turkey in exchange for favorable government action. He has repeatedly denied the charges.
His longtime advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, was indicted last month by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office on charges that also included bribery in exchange for favorable government action.
Adams has played off the unusual number of departures of his close associates from the administration as normal turnover, even though many of those exits came within days of law enforcement action.
Reporters asked him on Tuesday whether he takes responsibility for the conduct of the people he has elevated or appointed — which includes his close pal Tim Pearson, who was accused of sexually harassing a female subordinate — but he spoke only generally about his position at the top of city government. Pearson resigned in September, shortly after federal investigators seized his phone and documents in his possession.
“Listen, I’m the commanding chief of the troops. And so, you know, if my troops do something wrong, I have to reflect on what I need to do and do better,” he said.
Adams was also asked about his staunch defense in recent years of Maddrey, who was elevated to the top uniformed policing role with Adams’ approval despite some significant red flags in his work history.
Maddrey was facing termination in 2017 for getting into a physical altercation with a female subordinate he was having an affair with and for lying to police department investigators in order to conceal the fact that she had drawn a gun on him. Instead, he was stripped of 45 vacation days.
In 2023, the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated charges that Maddrey had abused his authority by improperly voiding the arrest of an ex-cop, also a former subordinate, who had allegedly pulled a gun on three young boys. THE CITY exposed the incident in an investigative series, including a video revealing that Maddrey showed up to the police precinct shortly before the ex-cop got sprung from a holding cell.
Adams publicly signalled his support for Maddrey throughout the disciplinary process, and pressured then-commissioner Keechant Sewell not to discipline Maddrey, a source previously told THE CITY. That conflict with the mayor factored heavily into Sewell’s abrupt resignation in June 2023, according to the source. Adams on Tuesday called those claims “lies,” saying “that just did not happen.”
Last year, former police commissioner Edward Caban dismissed the case against Maddrey with no penalty, arguing the Civilian Complaint Review Board lacked authority to bring the charges.
On Tuesday, Adams insisted his defense of Maddrey over the years had centered on his policing work, which he maintains is exemplary.
But even after the Civilian Complaint Review Board had substantiated its case against Maddrey in 2023, Adams stated publicly that Maddrey had acted “appropriately” in intervening in the ex-cop’s arrest.
“I have the utmost confidence in Chief Maddrey,” Adams said at the time.
On New Year’s Eve, Tisch appointed Maddrey’s friend and mentee, former Chief of Patrol John Chell, to serve as Chief of Department, despite a number of troubling incidents in his decades-long policing tenure.
This includes a fatal shooting nearly 20 years ago where Chell fired his gun, accidentally he says, at a fleeing motorist, killing the man.
A Brooklyn jury determined in 2017 that the shooting had been intentional, and awarded the deceased man’s family $2.5 million in damages.
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