New York City Mayor Eric Adams will go on trial April 21 on charges that he accepted flight upgrades and other travel benefits, as well as illegal campaign donations from Turkish individuals seeking to trade their influence as government official.

U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho set the trial date following a hearing Friday afternoon on a defense motion to dismiss the bribery charge against Adams. Ho said he plans to rule on the matter “shortly.”

Adams, a first-term Democrat who intends to seek re-election, pleaded not guilty to charges in the five-count indictment in September.

A prosecutor in court said Friday that his team had turned over 1.6 terabytes of data as part of the discovery process. He said he hoped to provide all evidence to the defense before the court’s Dec. 4 deadline.

Ho, in setting the trial date for April 21, said he was considering the interests of the mayor and the public “very seriously.” Prosecutors had suggested that the trial begin in May.

Adams’ defense attorney, Alex Spiro, raised the issue that the indictment itself would have negative consequences for the mayor’s political career by pushing for a trial in March, arguing that if it started later, Adams would not have time to gather the signatures needed to continue. the ballot, the campaign and the fundraising.

Spiro also cited recent public polls indicating that some New Yorkers had abandoned the notion of the mayor’s “presumption of innocence,” to which all defendants are legally entitled.

Primary elections for mayor are scheduled for June 2025.

Spiro said he was pushing for Adams’ right to a speedy trial “so this man can clear his good name” and continue leading the city.

Prosecutors have alleged that Adams, in exchange for travel upgrades worth about $100,000 and illegal donations, pressured the FDNY commissioner and other fire officials to open the Turkish consulate in Manhattan ahead of a visit by the country’s president.

Adams’ defense attorney, John Bash, argued before Ho on Friday to have the bribery charge dismissed, calling the government’s allegations “vague and amorphous” while citing Supreme Court precedent.

Prosecutor Hagan Scotten said the defense “may be entitled to a strict jury instruction” but not a dismissal of the charge. He added that a defendant did not have to have a supervisory role to be able to exert “pressure.”

Prosecutors have said that emails between Adams and the FDNY commissioner, which were cited by prosecutors in the indictment, show that Adams asked for the building to be opened despite deficiencies in the fire alarm system.

Adams was Brooklyn’s borough president at the time, but had won the Democratic primary and was considered the leading contender to be the next mayor.

The judge expressed his agreement with the defense at one point during the hearing, saying that “it seems a little strange that the jurisdictional connection here is when he was Brooklyn borough president… but his ability to apply pressure” comes from elsewhere .

“There’s something about that that seems a little strange,” Ho said.

Adams is due back in court for a conference on December 20.

Nicole Fuller is Newsday’s senior criminal justice reporter. He began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.