If there’s one thing New York Mayor Eric Adams‘ administration loves, it’s corruption. Adams himself only escaped prosecution for his own corruption by selling the city out to the Trump administration, and he’s far from the only one in the administration dealing with corruption allegations. Heck, there’s even an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to investigations into the Adams administration. And you can now add the NYPD’s director of traffic, Franklin Sepulveda, to that list, as he’s been accused of committing a hit-and-run, then trying to cover it up, The City reports.
Allegedly, Sepulveda hit a parked car and then, when a department traffic manager noticed Sepulveda’s car had been damaged, told them to report the damage occurred in a nearby police parking lot. At some point, Internal Affairs began investigating, questioning the manager and showing them surveillance video of the crash. It isn’t clear how IA learned about the alleged cover-up, and NYPD officials declined to comment when The City reached out for answers, but one unnamed source within the NYPD told the outlet, “He’s in a lot of trouble. It’s a serious case.”
It’s illegal to commit a hit-and-run, and it’s also bad to lie about it, but what makes it worse is that Sepulveda isn’t just a cop. He’s a senior NYPD official who reportedly has a reputation for being a strict boss who regularly disciplined other officers who crashed their patrol cars. He also made almost $200,000 last year. As District Council 37 Local 983 Vice President Marvin Robbins told The City, Sepulveda’s attempted cover-up is a slap in the face to lower-level officers who are expected to follow the law. “This is amazing how the same person who implements penalties against my members can walk away and not report it,” Robbins said. “I’m surprised.”
A pattern of alleged corruption
Those who have been paying attention to how Adams has run the city, however, wouldn’t be surprised to hear a top NYPD official has been accused of corruption. As The City points out, Sepulveda is far from the first NYPD official to face allegations they crossed the line:
In July, four former NYPD chiefs filed lawsuits alleging retaliation after raising concerns over corruption in promotions and police units. Matthew Pontillo, James Essig, Christopher McCormack, and Joseph Veneziano claim that Adams-aligned leaders awarded coveted assignments to unqualified allies — and punished those who spoke up.
About a week later, ex-interim NYPD Commissioner Thomas Donlon filed a sweeping federal racketeering lawsuit accusing Mayor Adams and other top officials of running the NYPD as a “criminal enterprise.” The suit alleges fraudulent promotions, retaliation against whistleblowers, and misuse of public funds.
Just this month, former head of the Police Department’s Advocate’s Office, Amy Litwin, also sued, claiming she was fired after pushing for then-Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey to face disciplinary action after dropping charges against a retired officer accused of threatening children with a gun. Of course, none of those allegations is nearly as scandalous as the Democratic nominee for mayor proposing a pilot program of a handful of city-run grocery stores, but I’m just gonna say it — that still sounds pretty bad, and perhaps Eric Adams shouldn’t be re-elected as mayor.Â
