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Ricky J. Patel

'Altared' State: NJ Sisters Admit Staging Sham Marriages To Keep Non-Citizens In US 'Altared' State: NJ Sisters Admit Staging Sham Marriages To Keep Non-Citizens In US
'Altared' State: NJ Sisters Admit Staging Sham Marriages To Keep Non-Citizens In US UPDATE: Two sisters from Newark admitted obtaining phony marriage licenses and staging bogus wedding ceremonies, receptions and other events in an elaborate scheme to help undocumented non-citizens avoid deportation, federal authorities said. Regina Johnson, 59, and her sister, Andrea Torres, ran the sham scam for nearly three years, recruiting and paying U.S. citizens to pose as spouses, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Their clients: non-citizens looking to remain in the country despite the lack of legal status or proper documentation. As part of the fraud, the sisters "…
BI-STATE BUST: Bergen Man, Westchester Woman Had 20 Pounds Of Fentanyl, 2½ Pounds Of Coke: Feds BI-STATE BUST: Bergen Man, Westchester Woman Had 20 Pounds Of Fentanyl, 2½ Pounds Of Coke: Feds
Bi-state Bust: Bergen Man, Westchester Woman Had 20 Pounds Of Fentanyl, 2½ Pounds Of Coke: Feds A Bergen County man and a woman from Westchester were busted with 20 pounds of deadly fentanyl and 2½ pounds of cocaine for sale, federal authorities said. Plinio Junior Pineda Lopez, 33, of Oakland and Lorendy Diaz Beltre De Inoa, 27, of Yonkers were arrested with 1.5 kilos of fentanyl in Wallington, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said Wednesday. Nearly eight more kilos of hidden fentanyl were found during a court-approved search on Tuesday, July 11, of Lopez’s Hillside Avenue home just off West Oakland Avenue and down the street from an entrance/exit for Route 287, inve…
PURSUIT: Stolen Car Collisions Injure Homeland Security Agent, NJSP Detectives, Teen Thief PURSUIT: Stolen Car Collisions Injure Homeland Security Agent, NJSP Detectives, Teen Thief
Pursuit: Stolen Car Collisions Injure Homeland Security Agent, Njsp Detectives, Teen Thief UPDATE: Two New Jersey State Police detectives were struck and a U.S. Homeland Security agent rammed head-on by a quartet of car thieves, one of them a 15-year-old who had his leg broken during a pursuit, authorities confirmed. Three adults and the injured juvenile were seized following a chain reaction of collisions in Newark involving a stolen SUV, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Friday, June 30. It began with the theft of the 2021 BMW X6 in Cedar Grove around 7:30 a.m. Thursday, June 22, the attorney general said. Members of the New Jersey State Police Auto Theft…
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…
Feds: It's 30 Years With No Parole For NJ Dad, 62, Who Made, Shared Child Rape Streams, Videos Feds: It's 30 Years With No Parole For NJ Dad, 62, Who Made, Shared Child Rape Streams, Videos
Feds: It's 30 Years With No Parole For NJ Dad, 62, Who Made, Shared Child Rape Streams, Videos UPDATE: A 62-year-old New Jersey father of three must spend the next 30 years in a federal penitentiary with no opportunity for parole for producing and sharing live streams and videos of children being sexually assaulted – some of them by him. Antonio Del Prado of Millburn must serve out the entire plea-bargained sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton also sentenced him to 10 years of supervised release. Del Prado theoretically would have to live into his 90s to ever breathe free air again -- and into his 100s before the gove…
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…
Delaware Man Admits Peddling Heroin In NJ: Feds Delaware Man Admits Peddling Heroin In NJ: Feds
Delaware Man Admits Peddling Heroin In NJ: Feds A Delaware man admitted in federal court that he sold heroin in New Jersey, authorities said. Carl L. Jones, 49, of Newport, did business with "a confidential source who was working with law enforcement" in a commercial parking lot in Mount Laurel on March 29, 2019, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. According to Sellinger, Jones sold the informant a pound and a half of a a "mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin." Jones took a deal from the government rather than risk the potential consequences of a guilty verdict at a trial, pleading to drug po…
Federal Agents Seize Sussex County Man In Online Child Porn Sting Federal Agents Seize Sussex County Man In Online Child Porn Sting
Federal Agents Seize Sussex County Man In Online Child Porn Sting U.S. Homeland Security agents seized a Sussex County man who they said shared hundreds of child pornography videos and still images with an undercover investigator. Gaetano Lapegna, 64, was arrested after a warranted search of his Franklin home turned up two videos and 100 other images, Homeland Security Investigations' Newark Special-Agent-In-Charge Ricky J. Patel and U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said in a joint announcement. A federal magistrate judge in Newark released Lapegna, formerly of Maine, on $100,000 unsecured bond pending trial on distribution of child pornog…
CLIMATE OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics CLIMATE OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics
Climate OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics A Jersey Shore doctor must pay $642,212 to two undocumented women from India whose true identities she hid for eight years while harboring them as unpaid domestics, federal authorities said. Harsha Sahni, 66, of Tinton Falls, also must cover $200,000 worth of treatment of a brain aneurysm that one of the women suffered while they worked in her and her family's homes, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Federal prosecutors required the payments as part of a plea deal that allowed Sahni to avoid the potential consequences of a conviction at a trial, the U.S. attorney said. In exchange, S…
NJ Man Admits Hiring Hitman To Kill Teen He Shared Sexual Photos With Online: Feds NJ Man Admits Hiring Hitman To Kill Teen He Shared Sexual Photos With Online: Feds
NJ Man Admits Hiring Hitman To Kill Teen He Shared Sexual Photos With Online: Feds A Camden County man who shared sexually explicit photos with a 14-year-old child online admitted to paying $20,000 in bitcoin to have the child killed, authorities said. John Michael Musbach, 31, of Haddonfield, pleaded guilt to an indictment charging him with knowingly and intentionally using and causing another to use a facility of interstate and foreign commerce, that is the internet, with the intent that a murder be committed, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. In the summer of 2015, Musbach reportedly exchanged sexually explicit photographs and videos with the victim, a …
Human Trafficking: US Homeland Security Investigations, NJSP, Others Cite New Enforcement Tools Human Trafficking: US Homeland Security Investigations, NJSP, Others Cite New Enforcement Tools
Human Trafficking: US Homeland Security Investigations, Njsp, Others Cite New Enforcement Tools New ways of targeting and stopping human trafficking will be discussed by an elite group of federal, state and local law enforcement authorities in Newark on Wednesday, Jan. 25. U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Phillip R. Sellinger, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark Special Agent In Charge Ricky J. Patel and Ali Boak, the director of the Global Center on Human Trafficking, will be among the speakers at the unique news media event. They will discuss joint efforts at fighting human trafficking by giving law enforcement at all levels the necessary tools – including a new mobile app and…
$1M In Cash, $2M In Luxury Cars, 200 Catalytic Converter Pallets Seized In Federal NJ Bust $1M In Cash, $2M In Luxury Cars, 200 Catalytic Converter Pallets Seized In Federal NJ Bust
$1M In Cash, $2M In Luxury Cars, 200 Catalytic Converter Pallets Seized In Federal NJ Bust A Homeland Security investigation netted eight area arrests, including six in Newark, as part of a nationwide takedown of a large catalytic converter and stolen car ring. HSI and FBI agents seized more than 200 pallets of catalytic converters, $2 million in exotic cars, $1 million in cash and 29 ounces of gold bars, jewelry and high-value handbags as part of the operation.  "This criminal enterprise involved multiple suspects across the country," said Special Agent In Charge Ricky J. Patel of HSI Newark.  A total of 21 suspects were arrested in eight states.
New Milford Man Shared Child Porn With Undercover Agent: Feds New Milford Man Shared Child Porn With Undercover Agent: Feds
New Milford Man Shared Child Porn With Undercover Agent: Feds A 34-year-old Bergen County man is facing federal charges for sharing child porn online — once with an undercover agent, authorities said. New Milford's Michael Kimmerle distributed videos of child sex abuse through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program from August 2021 through August 2022, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said Friday, Oct. 7. An undercover agent conducted online session using the same program, during with a user shared multiple videos of child sex abuse from an IP address that traced back to Kimmerle's home, Sellinger said. A raid of Kimmerle's home turned up thumbnail ima…