A bombshell lawsuit by a former interim NYPD commissioner accusing Mayor Eric Adams’ administration of running a sprawling corruption conspiracy inside the department has been tossed by a federal judge.
Tom Donlon filed the startling suit last spring, claiming that Adams and top police brass ran the department like a “criminal enterprise,” and accusing them of racketeering.
But Manhattan federal Judge Denise Cote found the defendants had “different motivations” and not “a single desire to further their criminal enterprise,” as she dismissed the 243-page RICO lawsuit.
“The defendants lacked a common purpose and were instead motivated by their own personal interests and resentments,” Cote wrote on Wednesday.
Donlon’s attorney, John Socla, had filed for an appeal by Friday.
“The court did not find that the misconduct he described did not occur,” Scola told The Post, “only that, in its view, the NYPD did not fit the technical definition of a RICO enterprise.”
Donlon claimed in the suit that his attempts to root out corruption were stymied by Adams and then-powerful top cops, including Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, NYPD Chief of Department John Chell and Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Public Information Tarik Sheppard.
But instead of working with him, Donlon claimed the leaders rewarded their loyal lackeys and inflicted payback on him — including arresting his wife.
“Mr. Donlon exposed corruption at the highest levels of the NYPD and was forced out for refusing to go along with it,” Scola said.