Former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey had 'consensual' relationship not related to $200G in overtime, lawyer says

The lawyer for Jeffrey Maddrey, the former top-ranking NYPD chief who stepped down amid charges that he coerced sex from a subordinate in exchange for $200,000 in overtime, acknowledged an affair with the accuser on Friday but said she had pursued him with racy texts, videos and photos.

Former Lt. Quathisha Epps, who earned just over $400,000 in salary and overtime last year, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy, claimed last week that the former chief plied her for sexual favors in exchange for “overtime opportunities,” according to a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. She said she complied because she was going through financial hardship at the time.

Maddrey’s lawyer, however, said that Epps had been "stealing time" from the police department and sought to transfer the attention away from herself onto the former chief.

“Lieutenant Epps, since October of this year, has been under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD for putting in for overtime she never completed,” Maddrey’s lawyer, Lambros Lambrou, said during a Friday afternoon news conference with the former chief by his side. “Lieutenant Epps got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and is trying to deflect her wrongdoing by making these allegations against Maddrey in the hopes that she'll get away with part or all of her scheme.”

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has said the department was looking into overtime abuse but did not say when the investigation began.

Maddrey resigned from his position last Friday, immediately after news broke of the complaint, because he was tired of the accusations, his lawyer said.

“Jeff resigned and retired upon hearing of this last meritless complaint because he's been through this before,” Lambrou said, naming a woman who had sued the former chief unsuccessfully for sexual harassment. “The city has enough going on without these allegations swirling around. The chief of department, he's given 34 years of his life for the NYPD, he has been repeatedly sued, meritlessly.”

Lambrou denied that his client had coerced Epps into having sex with him as she has alleged, but acknowledged that the two were romantically involved.

“The truth is Lt. Epps had a consensual adult relationship, albeit for a short time, with Jeff,” the lawyer said.

Eric Sanders, the lawyer representing Epps, called the claims "disgraceful."

“He is a clown, he is always a clown,” Sanders said. “We look forward to proving our case with a treasure trove of data.”

Lambrou sought to distance Maddrey from his accuser’s pay increase.

“Jeff never approves, assigns or gives overtime,” the lawyer said, adding that 415 members of the NYPD make more than $100,000.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced last Saturday it was investigating the “extremely serious and disturbing claims” against Maddrey, but Lambrou said that no one from the office has reached out to them.

After news of the scandal broke, Mayor Eric Adams, for the second time during his administration, issued a directive to curb overtime abuse.

“Control of overtime is important for good government and overtime should be approved only in those instances where it is warranted and appropriate,” according to the memo, which went out to the commissioners of the NYPD, the FDNY, the Department of Correction and the Department of Sanitation on Monday.

With Anthony M. DeStefano