What to know about 5 high profile NYC court cases in 2025, from Adams to Mangione

New York City’s criminal courts are rarely quiet. And it already looks like several cases churning through the system in the New Year are likely to make the history books.

In 2025, the courts will hear cases against a former high school valedictorian accused of killing a CEO, a gubernatorial aide who allegedly traded her power for a mansion and salted ducks, and New York City’s own mayor, who’s going on trial for corruption.

Here’s a primer on some of the high-profile cases you’re likely to hear about in 2025.

Eric Adams

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment against Mayor Eric Adams in September, accusing him of trading his political power for lavish travel perks and illegal campaign donations. Prosecutors say Adams accepted more than $100,000 in flight upgrades on Turkish Airlines. In exchange, they say, he pressured FDNY officials to allow a new skyscraper known as the Turkish House to open before it could pass a fire inspection.

Adams, 64, pleaded not guilty to federal charges of bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and his attorney urged the judge presiding over the case to start the trial quickly, before the height of the 2025 mayoral campaign.

The mayor’s trial is currently scheduled to begin in late April, two months before the primary election. The U.S. attorney who brought the case, Damian Williams, resigned after the presidential election, and a new appointee could take over before the trial is set to start — if one is confirmed by the Senate before then.

But Adams has also hinted at hopes for a pardon from President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he “would certainly look at it.”

“I think that he was treated pretty unfairly,” Trump said at his first press conference after the presidential election.

Luigi Mangione

Prosecutors say Luigi Mangione approached UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown hotel before sunrise on Dec. 4, shot him twice from behind with an untraceable ghost gun and fled. The fatal shooting, which was recorded on a surveillance camera, sparked a multi-day search for the perpetrator and a national conversation about widespread ire against the U.S. health insurance industry.

When law enforcement identified Mangione as the suspect, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Baltimore-area family became a cause célèbre. Many people expressed admiration for his alleged stance against corporate greed, and criticized the NYPD for his highly publicized police escort after arriving in New York City to face criminal charges.

Mangione faces charges in both state and federal court in Manhattan. On the state level, he has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, among other charges, which could land him in state prison without the possibility of parole. On the federal level, prosecutors charged him with stalking, a firearms offense and murder with a gun, which is punishable by the death penalty.

Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has said in court that she’s confused by what she sees as conflicting theories in the two cases — and that she doesn’t think her client is being afforded his right to a fair trial. She said Mangione is innocent until proven guilty and accused the mayor, the NYPD and prosecutors of politicizing his case.

Ramon Rivera

Ramon Rivera, 51, is accused of fatally stabbing three strangers in separate attacks across Manhattan on the morning of Nov. 18. Prosecutors say he stole a backpack filled with kitchen knives and construction gloves early that morning and then went on an unprovoked stabbing spree.

Rivera allegedly stabbed 35-year-old Angel Lata Landi, who was working in construction, 67-year-old Chang Wang, who was fishing, and 36-year-old Wilna Agustin, who was sitting on a bench, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. All three died of their injuries.

The multi-victim attack in broad daylight, which ended outside the United Nations, inflamed New Yorkers’ fears about seemingly random acts of violence. Mayor Adams blamed the failures of the criminal justice and mental health systems.

Rivera pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and third-degree burglary. A judge ordered him to be held in jail without bail while he awaits trial.

Officials have said Rivera had been living in a homeless shelter before his arrest. His defense attorney, Erin Darcy, said at Rivera’s Supreme Court arraignment that he recently received a psychiatric evaluation and that she plans to use the results of that exam to defend her client in court.

Linda Sun

Linda Sun, 41, a former aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was indicted in September on charges that she used her post to help the Chinese government and Communist Party. Officials rewarded her with millions of dollars in business for her husband’s company, which exports lobsters to China, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York.

Sun’s indictment is one of several recent cases in New York City federal courts accusing elected officials of taking bribes from foreign nationals who wanted to interfere in U.S. politics. Along with the case against Adams, prosecutors in the neighboring Southern District of New York also charged New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez with helping the Egyptian government in exchange for bribes. He was convicted of acting as an agent for a foreign country and other federal charges in July.

Prosecutors say Sun allowed a Chinese official to secretly listen to a March 2020 call with state leaders about a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and provided unauthorized invitation letters to facilitate officials’ travel to the United States. They also accused the former aide of blocking communications between New York and Taiwan, and of removing a reference to the detention of Uyghur people in a video message Hochul recorded to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year when she was lieutenant governor in 2021.

In return, Sun and her husband enjoyed a major pay day for their lobster exports to China, which helped them to buy a mansion in Manhasset, a condo in Honolulu, a co-op in Forest Hills, a Ferrari, a Range Rover and a Mercedes, according to a 64-page indictment against the couple. Prosecutors say Chinese officials also sent Nanjing-style salted ducks to Sun’s parents and gave her family travel benefits and tickets to shows.

Sun and her husband have both pleaded not guilty to various federal charges, and Sun’s attorney has called the allegations a “weak fiction.”

Sebastian Zapeta

Around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 22, Sebastian Zapeta approached a woman who was asleep on the F train, lit her on fire, fanned the flames and then watched her burn to death, according to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. Surveillance footage of the deadly burning circulated online, and three teens who recognized Zapeta from the video flagged him down for police, authorities say.

Prosecutors charged Zapeta, 33, with murder and arson. Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said in court that Zapeta told police after his arrest that he drinks a lot of liquor and doesn’t know what happened. He’s being detained without bail while he awaits trial.

The case took on a new dimension after immigration officials revealed that Zapeta is an undocumented immigrant who was deported to Guatemala in 2018 and at some point came back to the United States. The mayor’s office said he came to New York before the most recent wave of migration, which started in April 2022. But Zapeta’s immigration status still added fodder to a debate playing out in New York City and across the country about the impact of migration on crime — which many researchers and advocates say is unfounded, while police often draw connections between the two.