The former commissioner of New York City’s Department of Probation faces a criminal investigation into her rocky tenure at the agency.
Two law enforcement sources confirmed to Gothamist that the Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating former Commissioner Juanita Holmes after a referral last year by the city’s watchdog Department of Investigation. Three current and former probation employees said they were questioned in connection with the investigation. All the sources asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak about the ongoing probe.
The full scope of the inquiry is unclear. But the former commissioner’s nearly three-year reign at the probation department was fraught with allegations of nepotism and patronage, circumvention of civil service rules, retaliation against employees, bypassing of procurement rules and manipulation of key agency metrics. She was one in a string of Mayor Eric Adams’ appointees in law enforcement who faced accusations of abusing their power…