Adam Skelos has been riding his daddy’s coattails for years — and now it could send them both to the clink.
The criminal complaint against Skelos, 32, and his father, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, 67, paints a portrait of a good-for-nothing son whose dad bent so far backward to help him that they both broke the law.
One leading Long Island Republican with close ties to the Skeloses described Adam as a “troubled kid” who has “had problems with alcohol.”
“Adam is a braggadocio. He’d tell people he was a manager when he was really a second-rate bartender,” the source said.
An only child, Adam graduated in 2007 from Hofstra University, where he landed internships in the Nassau County office of then-Gov. George Pataki and at the Long Island Power Authority.
He scored a part-time, $12-an-hour job with a lobbying and law firm whose partners included Bob Malito, a longtime friend of his dad.
In 2009, Dean pulled strings to get Adam hired by Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s re-election campaign, sources said.
Dean personally called the campaign to say his son wanted a job in field operations, and Adam wound up making about $3,000 for two months of work, sources said.
“It was an easy ask,” one campaign insider said.
According to the complaint, Adam “has been dependent on his father for financial support” since at least 2010.
In addition to pocketing at least $100,000 in handouts, Adam got $50,000 from his dad for a down payment on a $675,000 house he bought in 2013, the complaint says.
Dean allegedly brought up his son’s money woes with a real-estate exec who feds say steered $20,000 to Adam for work he never did and helped him land a $10,000-a-month consulting job for which he wasn’t qualified.
Dean said Adam was “suffering financially,” according to the complaint.
The feds say Adam even leaned on his mom to get his dad’s help, sending her a letter tied to a $12 million contract being sought by a firm where he was a consultant.
“What do u want me to do with this!” Gail Skelos wrote.
“Show you know who,” Adam allegedly replied.