NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea
NO Choice: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea UPDATE: There’s no trying to present a defense in court when the prosecutors have a video of you shooting someone, as well as the loaded gun you were carrying when they arrested you. So ex-con Antoine Hawkins, 31, of Newark, took a deal from the government, admitting in federal court in Newark this week that he shot two victims five days apart in the Brick City in August 2020. Hawkins also pleaded guilty to possessing a 9mm Springfield Armory XDM pistol loaded with 19 rounds and 626 heroin folds for sale when they arrested him a month later, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger …
CHILD SEX STING: German 'Perv To Some Extent' Admits Flying Into NJ To Abuse Children CHILD SEX STING: German 'Perv To Some Extent' Admits Flying Into NJ To Abuse Children
Child SEX Sting: German 'Perv To Some Extent' Admits Flying Into NJ To Abuse Children UPDATE: A German man admitted in federal court in Newark that he flew to New Jersey for what he thought would be sex with children as young as 10 years old. Christian Stefan Walther, 39, of Erfurt, communicated with what turned out to be two undercover New Jersey State Police detectives via email, phone, and an encrypted messaging app, authorities said. The officers had posed as members of a group of predators who had access to young children, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Walther, who called himself a "perv to some extent," expressed a "desire to engage in sexual …
Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme
Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme A New Jersey real estate investor and influencer who's business partners with Power 105.1 DJ Envy was seized early Wednesday by federal agents who charged him with orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like investment scheme. Promising returns that were too good to be true, Cesar Humberto Piña "exploited celebrity status and social media" to scam dozens of people out of millions of dollars, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Oct. 18. Piña, 45, who lives in the suburban Bergen County town of Franklin Lakes, craftily "developed a devoted following" whom he then victi…
Drug Store Robbery Spree: Second Suspect Snared In Passaic County Drug Store Robbery Spree: Second Suspect Snared In Passaic County
Drug Store Robbery Spree: Second Suspect Snared In Passaic County A Paterson man was charged by federal authorities with participating in seven drugstore robberies in the Silk City and Passaic, including one in which they said an ex-con partner fired two gunshots. A federal magistrate judge ordered Onijee Burgess, 26, detained following a hearing in U.S. District Court in Newark on Tuesday, Oct. 17.Burgess, Antonio Rivera and other unidentified co-conspirators went on a robbery spree from November 2022 through April 2023, holding up five different pharmacies -- including two of them twice, authorities said. Rivera demanded Percocet, morphine and oxycodone…
UPDATE: Admitted Homemade Bomb Maker From South Jersey Gets 2 Years, No Parole UPDATE: Admitted Homemade Bomb Maker From South Jersey Gets 2 Years, No Parole
Update: Admitted Homemade Bomb Maker From South Jersey Gets 2 Years, No Parole A South Jersey man whom federal authorities said they caught with a do-it-yourself bomb and the materials to make it was sentenced to two years in prison without parole. Thomas Petronglo, 64, had a 5¾-inch diameter metal can filled with potassium perchlorate and aluminum with a fuse sticking out when authorities raided his Vineland home in March 2021, according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Camden. The mixture is commonly used in commercial fireworks displays. Authorities seized several other improvised devices -- mostly plastic cylinders and cardboard tubes containing "…
Feds: Mailbox ‘Fisher’ Who Plagued Bergen, Morris, Hudson Gets 27 Months Without Parole Feds: Mailbox ‘Fisher’ Who Plagued Bergen, Morris, Hudson Gets 27 Months Without Parole
Feds: Mailbox ‘Fisher’ Who Plagued Bergen, Morris, Hudson Gets 27 Months Without Parole UPDATE: A member of a crew that fished more than $100,000 worth of checks from mailboxes in Bergen, Hudson and Morris counties is headed to federal prison for more than two years. Brando Mancebopujols, 24, will have to serve just about all of the plea-bargained 27-month sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Mancebopujols, formerly of Paterson, admitted that he and his associates pocketed the money by depositing the checks into bank accounts that they controlled, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. As many as 40 postal boxes had been broken into…
PREDATOR STING: PA Man Expected Sex With Girl, 12, At NJ Hotel, Homeland Security Says PREDATOR STING: PA Man Expected Sex With Girl, 12, At NJ Hotel, Homeland Security Says
Predator Sting: PA Man Expected Sex With Girl, 12, At NJ Hotel, Homeland Security Says A Pennsylvania man who arranged what he thought was sex with a pre-teen in a New Jersey hotel was instead seized by federal agents when he showed up, authorities said Wednesday. Louis Goldenberg, 41 of Philadelphia, "began interacting on a messaging application with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent, who was posing as a middle-aged woman with a 12-year-old niece" last month, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Sept. 20. Goldenberg messaged the purported aunt, "continuously expressing interest in having sexual contact," the U.S. att…
Jersey Shore Man Had Online Sex With Minors, Then Shared It, US Homeland Security Agents Charge Jersey Shore Man Had Online Sex With Minors, Then Shared It, US Homeland Security Agents Charge
Jersey Shore Man Had Online Sex With Minors, Then Shared It, US Homeland Security Agents Charge UPDATE: Federal authorities have taken custody of an accused child porn trafficker from the Jersey Shore who they said had online sex with at least two minors he met on a social media app. Ocean County prosecutor’s detectives initially investigated Christopher Budelman, 36, of Brick, leading to an arrest in late September 2022. Following up on a referral from the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the prosecutor's investigators learned that Budelman used the Kik Messenger App to upload and share images of child sexual abuse, authorities said at the time. F…
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea UPDATE: A burglar from a crew that targeted Asian and Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware took a deal from the government rather than risk the outcome of a trial, federal authorities said. James Hurt, 47, of New York, was part of a second-story outfit that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity." One of Hurt's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI c…
Great Neck Resident Among 5 Businessmen Busted In $673M Money Laundering Scheme: Feds Great Neck Resident Among 5 Businessmen Busted In $673M Money Laundering Scheme: Feds
Great Neck Resident Among 5 Businessmen Busted In $673M Money Laundering Scheme: Feds Five businessmen, including one from Long Island, laundered millions of dollars a day in cash through fronts they set up in New York City’s Diamond District, federal authorities charged. Federal agents tied the quintet to $673 million in dirty money laundered through illicit operations over the past four years, US Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. In exchange, Youssef Janfar, aka “Joe Rodeo,” age 57, of Great Neck, and Edison, New Jersey residents Raj Vaidya, age 26; Rakesh Vaidya, age 51; Shrey Vaidya, age 23; and Neel Patel, 26, collected sizable fees, he said. Janfar pur…
Paterson Jewelry Store Robbery Part Of Multi-State Crime Spree Involving DC Rapper: Feds Paterson Jewelry Store Robbery Part Of Multi-State Crime Spree Involving DC Rapper: Feds
Paterson Jewelry Store Robbery Part Of Multi-State Crime Spree Involving DC Rapper: Feds Three masked men who robbed a Paterson jewelry store of more than $1 million worth of merchandise at gunpoint last year were part of a violent East Coast crime ring that included a Washington, DC-based rapper, federal authorities said Wednesday. Trevor Wright – aka “Taliban Glizzy” – was among 16 defendants named in an indictment unsealed by federal authorities in the nation’s capital on Aug. 30. Mohammad Sheik had only just opened the Paradise Jewelry Store at the corner of Main Street and Delaware Avenue in Paterson several weeks earlier when the place was robbed last fall. It was one o…
Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Indicted By Federal Grand Jury Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Indicted By Federal Grand Jury
Saudi National Who Drove Stolen NJ School Bus To PA Indicted By Federal Grand Jury A college student from Saudi Arabia who stole a school bus in Livingston, NJ, and drove it nearly 60 miles to Stroudsburg, PA, has been indicted by a federal grand jury, authorities said. Bader Alzahrani, a 22-year-old divorced sophomore who attends an undisclosed college, broke into a vacant home across the street from a Livingston Board of Education parking lot on Hill Side Avenue where the bus was parked on Jan. 15, the indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Newark says. The district reported the bus stolen two days later. Police found a backpack with a Saudi Arabian passport bea…