拖人下水 meaning in English

involve sb. in criminal proceedings [in trouble]; drag a person down into the water; drag others down; drag sb. down to one's own level of crime; drag sb. into the mire; drag someone into hot water; drag someone into the abyss; get sb. into hot water; get sb. involved in trouble; have sb. sink into the vice one has already fallen into; involve [entice; inveigle] sb. in evildoing; pull another into the same sink of iniquity one finds oneself in; pull someone into the water -- to involve him in trouble