If you ever want to see how local government corruption actually works, look no further than Tony Herbert.
Herbert served as the New York City Mayor’s Office Citywide Public Housing Liaison, which is a fancy title meaning he was supposedly helping the city’s low-income residents navigate the massive public housing bureaucracy under former Mayor Eric Adams.
But this is far from what Herbert was actually doing during those three long years.
Instead, he was running a three-pronged criminal enterprise in which he raked in $36,000 while claiming to serve the people, according to federal prosecutors. It was quite a side hustle.
On Tuesday morning, the authorities arrested him at his Brooklyn home.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York accused Herbert of running a corruption machine while working for Adams.
In one scheme, he pressured City Hall officials to award the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) security contracts to a specific company, which had paid him at least $11,000, ABC News reported.
Unfortunately for Herbert, one security executive became a cooperating witness for the authorities and recorded their conversations. “This is what we do, bro,” Herbert said during one of the conversations. “This is what we do. I mean, ain’t nobody gonna do it for us.”
Herbert was also recorded telling the witness that he was “putting the pressure” on Adams. “Yo, we gotta put that money back,” he said. “The seniors are complaining.”
This is what Herbert told Adams to persuade him to restore funding for NYCHA security contracts that seniors were demanding. They had expressed concerns about a lack of security. But, in reality, Herbert was trying to get funding for the program because it would benefit the business that was allegedly bribing him.
This was not the extent of Herbert’s alleged criminal activity. Politico reported that he actually wrote the security company’s contract proposal for Adams’ office before arranging meetings between the company’s executive and City Hall officials.
But that’s not all.
The federal indictment alleges that Herbert also steered $24,000 in publicly funded burial assistance to a specific funeral home director. These funds are meant for low-income families who could not afford funeral expenses.
In exchange, the funeral home director paid Herbert $5,000. While poor families were mourning their dead loved ones and struggling to pay for funeral expenses, this individual allegedly took his cut.
In the third scheme, which occurred in April 2021, Herbert allegedly submitted a fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program application for his baked good business. The problem?
The bakery business didn’t exist. The man didn’t so much as bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Yet, Herbert even fabricated an invoice for an “$810 80s-themed three-tier tie-dye cake,” according to Fox News. He even created a fake email address the day before submitting the application.
Well, we can at least give him points for creativity.
Herbert allegedly stole over $20,000 from COVID relief funds.
Here’s the question New Yorkers should be asking: Why was this guy able to keep these scams going for three whole years?
The anser: Government and accountability go together like orange juice and toothpaste.
In the private sector, a person pulling of schemes like this would be fired immediately. Their career would be over. They might even face jail time.
Yet, Herbert managed to keep his job even while he was under federal investigation. He was still collecting a paycheck while defrauding New York City residents.
However, he did lose his job in September 2025, but it had nothing to do with his blatant corruption. He was canned after he mocked the death of Charlie Kirk, saying his assassination was “karma,” The New York Post reported.
Tony Herbert, the dirtbag former Eric Adams top mayoral staffer who called Charlie Kirk’s assassination “karma”, has been indicted for running pay to play schemes that netted him $16,000 in bribes (NY Post)
— The Conservative Read (@theconread) January 14, 2026
Karma pic.twitter.com/IB2fFDLNva
But this is far from an isolated incident. The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged 70 NYCHA workers in a single corruption case in 2024.
The reality is that these are not outliers. Government bureaucracies attract corruption like a bottle of white wine attracts Nancy Pelosi.
In fact, it is likely happening in your neighborhood — especially if you don’t live in a high-profile city like New York City.
This what happens when government controls valuable resources — like the hard-earned cash it swipes from your paycheck on the regular. When an entity can collect and control these resources, the predators salivate at the thought of using them for their own purposes.
There is no fixing this. The solution isn’t “better oversight” or to “investigate harder.” The solution is refusing to allow the government to control these resources in the first place. Government programs not only encourage people to rely on the state, it also allows bad actors to enrich themselves at the expense of those the government claims it serves.
Herbert now faces up to 20 years on each of the six federal charges. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.
But we shouldn’t take this to meant that corrupt officials are held accountable. In many cases, they get away with it. The reason why is obvious: The government will protect its own until it is absolutely impossible to do so.
