Frank Carone, former chief of staff to Mayor Adams, arrested in alleged bribery scheme: FBI

The former chief of staff to ex-New York City Mayor Eric Adams was arrested by the FBI Wednesday morning in connection with an alleged bribery scheme involving a city contract, the FBI confirmed Wednesday.

Frank Carone, a prominent Brooklyn attorney who served as Adams' right-hand man during his first year in office, is scheduled to be arraigned on undisclosed charges Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Brooklyn.

Carone's brother, Anthony Carone, who is also an attorney, and two others who are from Long Island, were also arrested, a spokesman for the FBI said.

The New York Times reported in January that Frank Carone was the subject of a federal corruption probe.

Attorneys for the Carones could not immediately be reached. 

Several other Adams administration officials have been indicted on corruption charges, including his longtime adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin.

Adams has faced his own legal troubles. In 2024, he was indicted on charges of on bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and illegal campaign contribution charges in connection with what prosecutors said was a long-running scheme that involved Adams accepting travel upgrades and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals. He denied the charges.

In a controversial move, the Department of Justice dropped the charges in 2025.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.