Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Predator Who Drove 2,700 Miles For Sex With Jersey Shore Girl, 14, Busted When He Returns: Feds Predator Who Drove 2,700 Miles For Sex With Jersey Shore Girl, 14, Busted When He Returns: Feds
Predator Who Drove 2,700 Miles For Sex With Jersey Shore Girl, 14, Busted When He Returns: Feds A predator from Louisiana who drove 2,700 miles roundtrip for sex with an underage Jersey Shore girl was captured when he flew back for more, federal authorities said. Spencer William-Wayne Caudle, 34, began grooming the 14-year-old victim through the Whisper app in April, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Trenton alleges. Although he expressed concern about ending up on TV's “To Catch a Predator,” Caudle drove to Toms River and “committed sexual acts on the victim” on May 27, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Caudle left for home later that night, Seliling…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Upstate NY Man Admits Assaulting Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Upstate NY Man Admits Assaulting Female Passenger On Flight To Newark
Upstate NY Man Admits Assaulting Female Passenger On Flight To Newark A New York State man admitted assaulting a female passenger on a flight to Newark Airport, federal authorities in New Jersey said. Ryan Manuella, 30, "moved to a vacant seat next to a female passenger and touched the passenger without her consent" on a flight from Denver on April 16, 2021, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Manuella -- of the Erie County town of Cheektowaga, just northeast of Buffalo -- didn't know the woman, according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. The victim then yelled at him and left the row of seats, Sellinger said. Manuella took a deal…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million
South Korean Clothing Manufacturer Admits Customs Fraud, Agrees To Pay US $2 Million A South Korean company has agreed to reimburse the United States $2 million for defrauding Customs officials about the value of imported clothing and apparel. Principals with Anyclo International Inc. admitted this week that the company evaded duties on clothing and apparel that it manufactured abroad and imported into the U.S. for nearly seven years, beginning in October 2012, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. The fraud involved preparing two invoices for the same shipments, the U.S. attorney said. One invoice bore the true value of the merchandise, Sellinger said. Th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Elizabeth, NJ
Police & Fire
Colombian Nationals Nabbed After NJ Home Break-In Nets Jewelry, Furs, Cash, More Colombian Nationals Nabbed After NJ Home Break-In Nets Jewelry, Furs, Cash, More
Colombian Nationals Nabbed After NJ Home Break-In Nets Jewelry, Furs, Cash, More Three Colombian nationals remain in federal custody and a fourth has already been deported after the government said they stole jewelry, a Rolex, an antique rifle, furs and cash in a home burglary in Union County. The quartet also took a stamp collection, luxury bags and more after breaking into the Cranford home shortly before 5 p.m. last Nov. 30, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. They then loaded the valuables into a red Honda Accord that they'd driven there, an FBI complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says. Sellinger, who put the total value of the loss at more than …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Crane Operator Who Made $1.5M At Port Newark Convicted Of Tax Fraud: Feds Crane Operator Who Made $1.5M At Port Newark Convicted Of Tax Fraud: Feds
Crane Operator Who Made $1.5M At Port Newark Convicted Of Tax Fraud: Feds A crane mechanic at the Port Newark Container Terminal was convicted by a federal jury of trying to cheat the IRS. Over a five-year period beginning in 2014, Jonathan D. Michael of Union County gave his boss a W-4 falsely claiming that he was exempt from having any federal tax withheld, authorities said. The IRS notified Michael in 2016 that he wasn't entitled to exempt status, but he wrote to the company and contended that his bogus W-4 was correct, they said. Michael, of Springfield, also didn't file any personal income tax returns, even though he was paid roughly $1.5 million in salary,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Who Coached Kids Admits Trafficking Child Porn Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Who Coached Kids Admits Trafficking Child Porn
Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Who Coached Kids Admits Trafficking Child Porn UPDATE: A former New Jersey state wrestling champion who made national headlines when he came out admitted in federal court on Tuesday that he trafficked child porn, authorities said. Alec Donovan, a 26-year-old youth wrestling coach and referee from Brick, “used an internet-based application to exchange multiple images and videos of child sexual abuse, including depictions involving pre-pubescent children,” U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said after the June 6 plea hearing in Trenton. Donovan, who records show has coached at the Shorething Wrestling Club in Lakewood, also …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Ex-Con NJ Bloods Leader Known As 'Hellboy' Gets 10 Years, No Parole, After Undercover PCP Sting Ex-Con NJ Bloods Leader Known As 'Hellboy' Gets 10 Years, No Parole, After Undercover PCP Sting
Ex-Con NJ Bloods Leader Known As 'Hellboy' Gets 10 Years, No Parole, After Undercover PCP Sting UPDATE: The leader of a Bloods subset that ruled some East Orange, Newark and Orange neighborhoods must spend the next 10 years in federal prison after he got stung selling PCP to an undercover agent. Tyree Thomas, 29, of Irvington -- known on the street as “Hellboy” -- had two loaded guns to protect the drugs and proceeds in a stash house that was raided after he repeatedly peddled phencyclidine to the agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Agents seized a 9mm Glock 19 and a .380-caliber Grendel P1O…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Jersey City, NJ
Police & Fire
Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home
Ex-Hudson Sheriff's Officer Admits $98,000 Short-Sale Mortgage Scheme For Jersey Shore Home A former Hudson County sheriff’s officer admitted defrauding a bank to duck $98,000 in mortgage payments on a Jersey Shore home, federal authorities said. Osbado Hernandez, 54, of Avenel, conspired with others to lie about a bogus short sale of his house in Keansburg so that the unidentified bank would discharge what was left on his mortgage, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Hernandez bought the property for $239,900 in 2006, financing it through a mortgage loan from the victimized bank, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Trenton says. He ended up behind on the payments,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Another Montclair State Student Seized On Child Porn Charges Another Montclair State Student Seized On Child Porn Charges
Another Montclair State Student Seized On Child Porn Charges A second Montclair State University student was arrested on child porn charges, only this time by federal authorities. Sean Lynch, 21, of Summit, used an instant messaging app to share six dozen videos of children being sexually abused, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. The announcement of a federal arrest came less than a week after state authorities seized MSU junior Keyon Luff, also 21, of Edgewater Park. Luff "catfished" underage children online using a bogus identity, engaged them in sexually explicit chats – and even had some send him videos of them pleasuring themselves, Selli…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
$6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed $6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed
$6M Ponzi Scheme: Braggart Hedge Fund 'Tycoon' Busted By Undercover NJ Fed The well-heeled hedge fund tycoon from Chicago seemingly couldn’t help but boast of some spectacular achievements during a meeting with an investment manager in New Jersey. There were annual returns of 336 percent, more than $2 billion raised in just 60 days and a list of investors that included a well-known owner of a professional sports team, authorities said. Phillip Galles, 57, also took a page from George Santos’s book, claiming that he’d graduated from a prominent university in the Midwest, they said. Galles’s “outlandish claims of experience, expertise and success” were all BS, a co…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds
Multitude Of Government Agencies Victimized Out Of $4M By NJ Man: Feds A New Jersey man stole more than $4 million through a clutch of schemes that included defrauding three different government programs, authorities charged. Gbenga Akinbode, 33, of Newark, opened a bank account and then used 120 different debit cards to buy $500,000 worth of money orders that were deposited into the account, according to a complaint filed by Homeland Security Investigations in U.S. District Court in Newark. Investigators discovered that the debit cards were funded with $4 million in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits, bogus Paycheck Protection Program loans…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Ex-Boy Scouts Camp Worker Trafficked Child Porn, Secretly Recorded Boys In Bathroom: Feds Ex-Boy Scouts Camp Worker Trafficked Child Porn, Secretly Recorded Boys In Bathroom: Feds
Ex-Boy Scouts Camp Worker Trafficked Child Porn, Secretly Recorded Boys In Bathroom: Feds A former employee at New Jersey Boy Scout camps secretly recorded videos of children using bathrooms there, federal authorities said. William Mickel, 69, of Lake Hopatcong, was originally arrested by local authorities on child porn charges, but the FBI assumed jurisdiction and gathered evidence that led to an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark. A judge there ordered on Thursday, May 4, that Mickel remain in federal custody pending trial on one count each of distribution and possession of child pornography. Mickel was employed by the Boy Scouts of America w…

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by Jerry DeMarco