In February federal prosecutors unsealed a scathing indictment charging that the founder of a nonprofit that ran a government-funded pandemic program placing released inmates in hotels had received a wide variety of bribes, including envelopes stuffed with cash and a $1.3 million townhouse in Washington Heights.
And then there was the shiny black $107,000 Mercedes.
On Tuesday, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella added an obstruction of justice charge to the original indictment, alleging an ornate scheme to make the Mercedes disappear after the alleged co-conspirators learned they were targets of a federal corruption investigation.
The original indictment charged that Julio Medina, founder of Exodus Transitional Community, accepted $2.5 million in bribes in exchange for steering $51 million in subcontracts to, among others, Weihong Hu, owner of the hotels where hundreds of released inmates were placed.
Exodus CEO Julio Medina leaves Brooklyn Federal Court after a hearing in her public corruption case, March 12, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
Hu was also a fundraiser for Eric Adams and hosted campaign events for his first mayoral run at her hotel in Fresh Meadows, Queens, where many of the released inmates resided.
Prosecutors allege that as part of the scheme, in November 2021 Hu purchased a Mercedes for Medina through one of her businesses and began making monthly payments on it.
Two weeks before the indictment was unsealed, law enforcement participated in a virtual meeting with Hu and her counsel, revealing they had evidence Hu had provided kickbacks to Medina, including the Mercedes. Such proffer sessions often occur when law enforcement is trying to win cooperation from a target.
According to prosecutors, “in the immediate aftermath of the government’s meeting,” Hu, Medina and Diana Ortiz, 60, one of his top employees at Exodus, initiated a kind of “Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” caper involving emojis and encrypted apps to make the Mercedes go away.
Surveillance footage presented by prosecutors, showing Weihong Hu and Julio Medina as she transferred what they allege was a cash bribe. Credit: U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
The day after the government session, license plate reader data show Medina and Ortiz drove to a home Medina owned in the Albany area where the Mercedes was located. In the next few days, Hu, Medina and Ortiz began communicating by text and phone via encrypted apps, prosecutors allege.
Two days after prosecutors spoke with Hu, Medina texted Ortiz a series of emojis 🤮🤮🤬🤬expressing dismay, adding, “Nooo Eastern 😳😳,” followed by “asked about me.” The prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York running the case took this to mean Medina was now aware that he’d been mentioned by them in their discussions with Hu.
Later that day, prosecutors say Medina had a text chat with his son, asking him to prepare the Mercedes and leave the keys in the car so it could be picked up the next day. His son replied, “Damm end of an era.”
“Once we get back on we gettin another one!” Medina replied.
Based on license plate readers and cell phone locations, prosecutors allege Ortiz drove the car back to the Queens home of Hu’s son, then Ubered back to the Bronx.
The morning the feds arrested Medina, Hu and Christopher Dantzler, who was charged with making kickbacks to Medina in exchange for a security subcontract with Exodus, they found a key to the Mercedes in a desk drawer in Medina’s home. That same day, prosecutors say an employee of Hu’s began coordinating the sale of the Mercedes to the dealership from which she originally purchased it.
The car in question, located by investigators at a dealership. Credit: U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York
Two days after Hu’s arrest, the car was sold to the dealership. An agent used the key found in Medina’s residence to unlock the vehicle at the dealership.
On Monday all three, Medina, Hu and Ortiz, were charged with obstruction of justice. Ortiz was arrested earlier in the day and was released on $100,000 bond. Hu and Medina will be arraigned on the new charge soon.
By late Monday, lawyers representing the three had not responded to THE CITY’s calls seeking comment.
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