Newark, NJ
Breaking News
Feds: Newark Ex-Con Drug Dealer Found With Loaded Gun, Heroin, Crack Feds: Newark Ex-Con Drug Dealer Found With Loaded Gun, Heroin, Crack Feds: Newark Ex-Con Drug Dealer Found With Loaded Gun, Heroin, Crack
Feds: Newark Ex-Con Drug Dealer Found With Loaded Gun, Heroin, Crack A federal judge ordered a Newark ex-con accused of running a neighborhood drug ring held pending trial after authorities said they caught him 194 crack vials, 64 heroin folds and a loaded handgun. Investigators seized Ibraaheem “Ish” Islam, 32, following warranted searches of his home and two vehicles, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Federal agents said they watched as Islam sold drugs “on a regular basis” on Chadwick Avenue before moving in on him on Saturday. Seized with the drugs was a FN Herstal model “FN Five-SeveN” pistol loaded with 17 rounds, a complaint on file in U.S. Distric…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Breaking News
Justice Department Sues Contractor For Fraud In $39M NJ Road Project Justice Department Sues Contractor For Fraud In $39M NJ Road Project Justice Department Sues Contractor For Fraud In $39M NJ Road Project
Justice Department Sues Contractor For Fraud In $39M NJ Road Project A construction company lied to the federal government to get a $39 million subcontract on a New Jersey road project, authorities said Friday. C. Abbonizio Contractors Inc., based in Sewell, “defrauded the government by claiming to use disadvantaged entities” when, in fact, it didn’t, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Companies must use disadvantaged business entities (DBE) for a specified percentage of the work in order to secure federal contracts for New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) projects, Carpenito said. Abbonizio Contractors obtained a $39 million subcontract from PK…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Elizabeth, NJ
Breaking News
Feds: Elizabeth Dealer Faces Lengthy Prison Stretch For Trafficking Fentanyl Feds: Elizabeth Dealer Faces Lengthy Prison Stretch For Trafficking Fentanyl Feds: Elizabeth Dealer Faces Lengthy Prison Stretch For Trafficking Fentanyl
Feds: Elizabeth Dealer Faces Lengthy Prison Stretch For Trafficking Fentanyl An Elizabeth man admitted trafficking nearly a pound of fentanyl as part of a criminal enterprise that federal authorities said moved the deadly drug by the kilo. Jhon Rodriguez-Acosta, 34, told a federal judge via teleconference that he and an accomplice went to a 7-Eleven parking lot in Elizabeth on Feb. 13, 2019 to collect payment for the fentanyl, which he’d sold to another co-conspirator. Local authorities arrested Rodriguez-Acosta nearly a year earlier after they said they caught him dealing in Bergen County and elsewhere. SEE: Bergen Detectives Seize 4½ Pounds Of Raw Heroin In Raid …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Breaking News
Feds: NJ Ex-Con Caught With 33 Guns, High-Capacity Mags, Silencer, Ammo Feds: NJ Ex-Con Caught With 33 Guns, High-Capacity Mags, Silencer, Ammo Feds: NJ Ex-Con Caught With 33 Guns, High-Capacity Mags, Silencer, Ammo
Feds: NJ Ex-Con Caught With 33 Guns, High-Capacity Mags, Silencer, Ammo A South Jersey ex-con who was investigated after he bought a silencer online was found with dozens of guns, along with high-capacity magazines and ammo, said federal authorities who arrested him Friday. Darick Nollett, 30, who lives in Cumberland County near the Delaware Bay, caught the attention of law enforcement when he bought a “fuel filter” – a device commonly used to silence firearms, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. As a convicted felon, Nollett is prohibited from having weaponry. A court-approved search of his Heislerville home turned up a trove of guns and more, Carpentio said:…

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by Jerry DeMarco
North Hunterdon, NJ
Breaking News
Philly Man Sent To Fed Pen After DEA Smashes Cali-To-NJ Heroin, Fentanyl Network Philly Man Sent To Fed Pen After DEA Smashes Cali-To-NJ Heroin, Fentanyl Network Philly Man Sent To Fed Pen After DEA Smashes Cali-To-NJ Heroin, Fentanyl Network
Philly Man Sent To Fed Pen After DEA Smashes Cali-To-NJ Heroin, Fentanyl Network A Philadelphia man must spend a plea-bargained 33 months in federal prison for his role in a bi-coastal drug network that was smashed when the DEA seized more than 40 pounds of heroin and fentanyl at a Hunterdon County rest stop. Denny Diaz, 30, struck a deal with the government in exchange for leniency when he admitted earlier that he’d collected six kilos of fentanyl from a California man at the service area in Bloomsbury in March 2019. U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan sentenced Diaz in Trenton on Tuesday to three years of supervised release following his prison term.  Diaz mus…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Breaking News
Paterson Man Caught By State Police With $123,255 In Drug Money Gets 3 Years In Fed Pen Paterson Man Caught By State Police With $123,255 In Drug Money Gets 3 Years In Fed Pen Paterson Man Caught By State Police With $123,255 In Drug Money Gets 3 Years In Fed Pen
Paterson Man Caught By State Police With $123,255 In Drug Money Gets 3 Years In Fed Pen A Paterson man caught by State Police troopers delivering $123,255 in drug cash will spend the next three years in federal prison before he can be released for his role in a major North Jersey ring. U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Jhensel Jimenez-Taveras, 27, on Thursday to a plea-bargained 37 months, followed by three years of supervised release. He must serve the entire term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Jiminez-Taveras also must forfeit the cash found in his vehicle when NJSP troopers stopped him in April 2019 following a drug deal in Berkeley H…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Breaking News
‘Patient Broker’ Admits Bribing NJ Addicts To Fly To Cali Rehab Clinics That Paid Him Kickbacks ‘Patient Broker’ Admits Bribing NJ Addicts To Fly To Cali Rehab Clinics That Paid Him Kickbacks ‘Patient Broker’ Admits Bribing NJ Addicts To Fly To Cali Rehab Clinics That Paid Him Kickbacks
‘Patient Broker’ Admits Bribing NJ Addicts To Fly To Cali Rehab Clinics That Paid Him Kickbacks A Jersey Shore man admitted Wednesday that he bribed drug addicts to enroll in rehab centers -- some in as far away as California -- in order to collect kickbacks. Peter J. Costas, 26, of Red Bank, told a federal judge via teleconference that he paid some addicts several thousand dollars to use specific rehab centers in New Jersey and other states. He and owners of a marketing company that he conspired with arranged for cross-country travel to the drug treatment centers in California and other states, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. In exchange, Carpenito said, the conspirators “could …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Breaking News
Drug Runner In Newark Ring Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Trafficking Heroin, Crack Drug Runner In Newark Ring Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Trafficking Heroin, Crack Drug Runner In Newark Ring Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Trafficking Heroin, Crack
Drug Runner In Newark Ring Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Trafficking Heroin, Crack A convicted drug runner from Newark must spend all of a plea-bargained 10 years in federal prison for his role in trafficking more than a kilo of heroin and a half-pound of crack. Maurice "Ree" McPhatter, 47, took the deal from the government rather than risk drug conspiracy convictions at a trial. Because there’s no parole in the federal prison system, he must serve the entire sentence imposed Friday by U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark  McPhatter was among several members of a drug ring that operated in and around Newark who were taken down in 2017 by special agents and of…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Teaneck, NJ
Breaking News
Feds: Teaneck Man Busted With 5,126 Fake Credit Cards, DLs From 24 States Feds: Teaneck Man Busted With 5,126 Fake Credit Cards, DLs From 24 States Feds: Teaneck Man Busted With 5,126 Fake Credit Cards, DLs From 24 States
Feds: Teaneck Man Busted With 5,126 Fake Credit Cards, DLs From 24 States Secret Service agents seized 4,920 counterfeit credit cards, 206 counterfeit driver’s licenses from 24 different states and a bank of forgery equipment while arresting a man who they said ran a massive ID-theft operation from his Teaneck home. A federal judge released Michael Fulcher, 35, of Teaneck on $100,000 unsecured bond during a teleconferenced U.S. District Court appearance. Teaneck police found the stash in March after Fulcher called to report a burglary in progress, authorities said. Responding officers saw “several counterfeit driver’s licenses with Fulcher’s photograph as well a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Breaking News
Feds: Ex-Con Caught With Modified Machine Gun During Social Distancing Sweep Feds: Ex-Con Caught With Modified Machine Gun During Social Distancing Sweep Feds: Ex-Con Caught With Modified Machine Gun During Social Distancing Sweep
Feds: Ex-Con Caught With Modified Machine Gun During Social Distancing Sweep Newark police clearing a sidewalk of loiterers who were violating emergency social distancing orders found one of them carrying a modified machine gun, federal authorities said. Ex-con Anthony Reynolds, 26, was in a group hanging out in the area of Summer Avenue and May Street when uniformed police assigned to minimize social gatherings approached them last Saturday night, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The officers were there for “the specific purpose of minimizing social gathering of citizens in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus,” Carpenito said. One of them saw Reyn…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Breaking News
Newark Ex-Con Who Pulled Gun In Argument Goes To Federal Prison For Mandatory 10 Years Newark Ex-Con Who Pulled Gun In Argument Goes To Federal Prison For Mandatory 10 Years Newark Ex-Con Who Pulled Gun In Argument Goes To Federal Prison For Mandatory 10 Years
Newark Ex-Con Who Pulled Gun In Argument Goes To Federal Prison For Mandatory 10 Years An ex-con from Newark must serve 10 years in federal prison for having a gun that authorities said he threatened to kill people with during an argument. Shakey Hoover, 39, was home with his longtime girlfriend and her mother on April 23, 2017 when a group of people arrived to pick up a television, federal authorities said. Hoover and his girlfriend’s sister began arguing before he suddenly pulled a small silver revolver from his waistband, pointed it at the group and threatened to kill them, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The group went to a nearby police station, after which respondi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Middletown, NJ
Breaking News
Feds: Monmouth County Man, 67, Posed As Teen To Lure Out-Of-State Minor Into Sex Feds: Monmouth County Man, 67, Posed As Teen To Lure Out-Of-State Minor Into Sex Feds: Monmouth County Man, 67, Posed As Teen To Lure Out-Of-State Minor Into Sex
Feds: Monmouth County Man, 67, Posed As Teen To Lure Out-Of-State Minor Into Sex A 67-year-old Monmouth County man had sex with an out-of-state minor whom he lured to his home after posing as a 17-year-old boy, federal authorities charged. Local authorities had already removed the child from the Union Beach home of Herman Christopher Jensen, who became the subject of an FBI investigation, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said after federal agents arrested him Wednesday. FBI investigators learned that Jensen had assumed the identity of a 17-year-old boy named Kevin Bennett on Facebook “in order to entice and solicit a minor to send nude and sexually explicit images over the…

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by Jerry DeMarco