Federal prosecutors charged an aide to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams with bribery Tuesday, adding to a legacy of alleged corruption that has become a defining feature of Adams’ time in office.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York — along with U.S. Internal Revenue Service investigators and the city’s Department of Investigation — accused Anthony Herbert of accepting bribes and kickbacks in exchange for pressing city officials to hire companies for municipal work.

Herbert, a friend of Adams, worked in the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit where he led operations in Brooklyn before becoming a citywide liaison to public housing developments.

According to a federal indictment made public Tuesday, Herbert allegedly accepted thousands of dollars in kickbacks in exchange for pushing city officials to hire a security company for contracts at public housing complexes.

The executive of that company, which was not named in the indictment, allegedly communicated with Herbert at the direction of law enforcement officials through recorded conversations and text messages that spanned several months. Those interactions coincided with messages showing Herbert urged Adams to beef up security at New York City Housing Authority complexes in order to boost the former mayor’s reelection chances.

At one point, according to the indictment, Herbert and the executive met outside Herbert’s house where the city official allegedly accepted the first of several bribes and described to the executive how he was selling city officials on the deal.

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