Jersey Shore Man Found With Rifle, Silencer, Bogus Federal Agent Badges Takes Plea
A Jersey Shore man who was caught with a handful of phony federal agent IDs in his own name admitted also having a homemade rifle and a silencer.
Jeffrey Backlund, 57, of Waretown, took a deal from the government rather than face trial, pleading guilty on Wednesday, April 27, to illegally possessing all of them, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Backlund was arrested after a warranted search prompted by a domestic disturbance in September 2020 turned up “a number of firearms and imitation federal identification badges,” Sellinger said.
“They found one short-barreled, AR-style, .223 …
South Jersey Pair Arrested On Multiple Drug-Dealing Charges: Prosecutor
A pair of men from Cape May County has been arrested on multiple drug-dealing charges, authorities said.
Yenmarie Soto-Maldonado, 35, and Miguel Rivera, 32, both residing in the Villas section of Lower Township are accused of distributing narcotics, they said.
On April 13, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office Gangs, Guns, and Narcotics Task Force concluded narcotics investigation into the distribution of cocaine throughout Cape May County, according to Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland and Chief Kevin Lewis.
The target of this investig…
CT Man, Woman Nabbed For Trafficking Fentanyl, Cocaine, Feds Say
Two Connecticut residents were arrested and charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl.
Willie Franco, age 33, and 31-year-old Daniella Fox, both of New Haven, were both arrested on Monday, March 7, according to Leonard Boyle, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut.
On Wednesday, March 2, investigators intercepted a USPS parcel containing about a kilogram of cocaine and a kilogram of fentanyl that was being sent to an address in East Haven associated with the two defendants, Boyle reported.
Investigators also found other suspicious par…
Feds Charge Clifton Doc With Randomly Doling Out Large Doses Of Oxy, Xanax, More
A Clifton orthopedic surgeon was charged by federal authorities with prescribing high doses of addictive opioid painkillers to patients who abused, sold or otherwise didn't need them.
Evangelos Megariotis, 68, prescribed Oxycodone, Xanax, cough syrup with codeine and stimulants “outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Megariotis, who owned and operated Clifton Orthopedic Associates, already has been banned by the state from ever again practicing medicine or prescribing drugs in New Jersey.
State au…
Four NJ Smoke Shops Raided, Five Busted For Selling Pot, THC Edibles
A group of owners and operators sold pot and THC products out of smoke shops in Englewood, Butler, Randolph, and Scotch Plains, charged authorities who busted them during a series of raids.
Detectives assisted by the DEA seized seizure of hundreds of pounds of marijuana, THC edibles and THC wax/oil, along with $305,000 in illicit proceeds, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
They arrested co-owners Michael Ligus, 24, and Damian Harry Wesler Sr., 44, along with Damian H. Wesler Jr., 22, all of Ringwood, and were arrested, along with Anthony Garcia, 45, of Secaucus and Ezekiel Pau…
