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Department of Homeland Security

'No Question People Seeing Drones': DHS Secretary Confirms Sightings 'No Question People Seeing Drones': DHS Secretary Confirms Sightings
'No Question People Seeing Drones': DHS Secretary Confirms Sightings Yes, New Jersey residents, you have been seeing drones in the sky this past month. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed what many Garden Staters have known for a while: there are drones flying overhead at night. “There's no question that people are seeing drones,” Mayorkas said on “This Week.” “And I want to assure the American public that we, in the federal government, have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology, to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings.” Mayorkas said while some of the drone sightings are dron…
Drones In The Sky: NY, NJ Senators Demand Answers From FBI, DHS, FAA Drones In The Sky: NY, NJ Senators Demand Answers From FBI, DHS, FAA
Drones In The Sky: NY, NJ Senators Demand Answers From FBI, DHS, FAA The senators representing New York and New Jersey are demanding answers about the drones that have been spotted flying in the skies of New York and New Jersey this past month. New York Senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim, all Democrats, wrote a letter on Thursday, Dec. 12 to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FAA Director Michael Whitaker demanding an immediate briefing on what they are doing to address the issue. "We are...especially concerned about how these drones may …
Hunterdon County Commish: We Need Drone No Fly Zone As FBI Reports 3,000 Sightings Hunterdon County Commish: We Need Drone No Fly Zone As FBI Reports 3,000 Sightings
Hunterdon County Commish: We Need Drone No Fly Zone As FBI Reports 3,000 Sightings Hunterdon County Commissioner Director Jeff Kuhl wants Gov. Phil Murphy to do more about the numerous drones that have been spotted flying overhead at night. In a letter to the governor sent on Wednesday, Dec. 11, Kuhl said he wants Murphy to work with President Joe Biden to impose a ‘Drone No Fly Zone’ for civilian and commercial drone operations over New Jersey.  "The continued uncertainty regarding the origins of the mysterious drones appearing across New Jersey including where they take off and land is of great concern," Kuhl said. "As you noted, these drones 'are very sophisticate…
Drone Sightings Across NJ Prompt Statements From Murphy, Booker Drone Sightings Across NJ Prompt Statements From Murphy, Booker
Drone Sightings Across NJ Prompt Statements From Murphy, Booker Authorities along the East Coast are grappling with a surge in drone sightings, raising security concerns and prompting high-level responses. In New Jersey, residents have reported numerous drone sightings since mid-November, particularly in Morris and Somerset counties, and more than a dozen mayors are calling for investigations. Gov. Phil Murphy is urging residents to report suspicious drone activity to law enforcement and emphasizing the state's commitment to public safety.  "We are actively monitoring the situation and in close coordination with our federal and law enforcement par…
'Privacy At Risk:' NJ Rep. Calls On Feds To Probe Drone Activity 'Privacy At Risk:' NJ Rep. Calls On Feds To Probe Drone Activity
'Privacy At Risk:' NJ Rep. Calls On Feds To Probe Drone Activity Rep. Tom Kean, R-NJ, is joining the chorus of people wanting answers about the drones seen hovering in the skies over New Jersey. "The safety and privacy of our residents must be a top priority, and right now, both are being put at risk," Kean said in a release.  "I am calling for the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other appropriate federal agencies to deploy greater resources to investigate and address this escalating issue. Additionally, an in-depth public briefing from authorities should take place immediately.  The drones first appea…
Trump Expected To Select Marco Rubio As Secretary Of State, Kristi Noem To Head DHS Trump Expected To Select Marco Rubio As Secretary Of State, Kristi Noem To Head DHS
Trump Expected To Select Marco Rubio As Secretary Of State, Kristi Noem To Head DHS President-elect Donald Trump is expected to add two well-known national political figures to his Cabinet this week. According to multiple reports, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will be his choice for secretary of state, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will lead the Department of Homeland Security. According to The New York Times, which first reported the news, Trump could still change his mind at the last minute about Rubio's selection. The son of Cuban immigrants, the 53-year-old Rubio was elected to the Senate in 2010. He was one of Trump's opponents in the 2016 Republican Presidential prim…
Convicted MS-13 Killer Sentenced In NJ Murder Plot Convicted MS-13 Killer Sentenced In NJ Murder Plot
Convicted MS-13 Killer Sentenced In NJ Murder Plot 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A member of an MS-13 clique who just began serving 40 years in federal prison for a murder in Virginia was sentenced to 10 years for his role in a failed plot to kill a rival in Hudson County. The plea-bargained sentence approved by a federal judge in Newark on Thursday, March 21, won’t require Jose Gimenez-Lobos, a 33-year-old Salvadoran national, to serve more time. It will run concurrently. Gimenez-Lobos and two companions were ordered by a high-ranking member of La Mara Salvatrucha to execute a member of the rival 18th Street gang from the Maryland/Virginia area, U.S. Attorney …
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 …
Feds Help Dismantle Meth, Fentanyl Ring In North Jersey: Cops Feds Help Dismantle Meth, Fentanyl Ring In North Jersey: Cops
Feds Help Dismantle Meth, Fentanyl Ring In North Jersey: Cops An investigation by multiple North Jersey police departments and the Department of Homeland Security led to the arrest of three men for running a meth and fentanyl ring on Wednesday, Sept. 20, authorities said. Nilo Ibarra, a 38-year-old Jersey City resident, Ramon Lopez Arias, a 32-year-old West New York resident and Alexander Sanchez-Castillo, a  37-year-old North Bergen resident were arrested following an operation conducted by the Secaucus Police Department, the Jersey City Police Department Street Crimes Unit and the North Bergen Police Department, Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Mill…
Paterson Man, 27, Gets 15½ Years, No Parole, For Having Girl, 11, Send Him Sex Pics Paterson Man, 27, Gets 15½ Years, No Parole, For Having Girl, 11, Send Him Sex Pics
Paterson Man, 27, Gets 15½ Years, No Parole, For Having Girl, 11, Send Him Sex Pics UPDATE: A Paterson man who posted a graphic video of a child being sexually assaulted and then convinced an 11-year-old girl to send him naked photos of herself must spend at least 15 years in federal prison. Jose Minaya, 27, has to serve just about all of the plea-bargained 186-month sentence approved by a U.S. District Court judge in Newark because there's no parole in the federal prison system. He also must remain under lifetime supervised release and register as a sex offender under the terms of a deal he cut with the government. Minaya “used a web-based application to engage an 1…
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ A dealer who admitted flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke is headed to federal prison for more than a decade. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, of Manhattan must serve out just about all of his plea-bargained 11-year sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Moreno and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Authorities disco…
Former Marine Opens Sports Bar In Cresskill Former Marine Opens Sports Bar In Cresskill
Former Marine Opens Sports Bar In Cresskill When Scott Roberts decided to open a sports bar, he acted fast.  Roberts is the owner of Scotty's Bar and Grill a new sports bar that opened in Bergen County at 172 Piermont Rd. in Cresskill. "It's awesome," Roberts said about his new joint. "We got 100-inch TVs, a bunch of 60-inch TVs, pool tables, a dart board. The crab cakes are insane." Scotty's opened two weeks ago and had 650 customers, Roberts said. He said people have been attracted to the food, which is upscale but not snooty and the fact he is committed to making his restaurant an all-inclusive place where everyone feels saf…
CEO Of Missing Submarine Company OceanGate Studied Aerospace Engineering At Princeton CEO Of Missing Submarine Company OceanGate Studied Aerospace Engineering At Princeton
CEO Of Missing Submarine Company OceanGate Studied Aerospace Engineering At Princeton Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate — the company that owns the missing submarine — has New Jersey ties. Rush earned his BSE in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, graduating in 1984. Five years later, he built an experimental aircraft and a "heavily modified Kittredge K-350 two-man submersible, in which he has conducted over 30 dives to date," the OceanGate website reads. Rolling Stone on Tuesday morning, June 20, obtained an email from the Department of Homeland Security saying banging sounds 30 minutes apart were detected where the sub lost contact Sunday morning June 18. …
CHILD SEX STING: German Traveler Busted At NJ Hotel After Flying In: Authorities CHILD SEX STING: German Traveler Busted At NJ Hotel After Flying In: Authorities
Child SEX Sting: German Traveler Busted At NJ Hotel After Flying In: Authorities A German man who flew to the United States for what he thought would be sex with children 10 and 11 years old at a New Jersey hotel was instead arrested by undercover officers, authorities said. Christian Stefan Walther, 38, of Erfurt, Germany, communicated with two officers via email, phone, and an encrypted messaging app about his “desire for sexual encounters with young children,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. The officers had posed as members of a group of child predators who had access to young children, he said.  Walther, who called himself a "perv to some extent," sen…
Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ
Ex-Trump PAC Exec Who Blamed 'That B****' Hillary Clinton For Probe Indicted By Feds In NJ A former pro-Trump PAC exec who blamed "that b**** Hillary Clinton" for his troubles with the law swindled more than two dozen investors out of $7 million, an indictment returned Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Newark alleges. U.S. Homeland Security agents a year ago this month smashed the alleged Ponzi scheme that they said New Jersey-based businessman David Schamens, 65, used to fund a lavish lifestyle. Now comes a March 28 indictment that charges him with wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Schamens, of Greensboro, North Carolina, used some of the investment money fro…
NJ Dealer Awaiting Trial For Shooting Detectives Gets 13 Years In Federal Drug Takedown NJ Dealer Awaiting Trial For Shooting Detectives Gets 13 Years In Federal Drug Takedown
NJ Dealer Awaiting Trial For Shooting Detectives Gets 13 Years In Federal Drug Takedown A manager of a major New Jersey drug ring who's awaiting trial for shooting two undercover detectives must spend 13 years in federal custody after taking a plea deal from the government in a separate case. Juan Figueroa, 25, was the last of 19 members of the Bloods-related group who were convicted following a federal assault on an open-air drug market in Camden that provided walkup and drive-by service to its customers. Figueroa and two associates were also charged in state court with ambushing two Camden County Police detectives who were investigating the ring, which peddled heroin, crack,…
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 …
Feds: Paterson Man Admits Getting Girl, 11, To Send Him Sexually Explicit Photos Feds: Paterson Man Admits Getting Girl, 11, To Send Him Sexually Explicit Photos
Feds: Paterson Man Admits Getting Girl, 11, To Send Him Sexually Explicit Photos A Paterson man admitted posting a graphic video of a child being sexually assaulted and then convincing an 11-year-old girl to send him naked photos of herself, authorities said Friday. Jose Minaya, 27, “used a web-based application to engage an 11-year-old child in a sexually explicit conversation online [and] ultimately instructed the child to take sexually explicit photographs and send them to him,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said on Jan. 6. This came after Minaya used another web-based application to “upload an unrelated video depicting the graphic sexual assault of a child to th…
International Fugitive Wanted In Five-Kilo Cocaine Importing Ring Seized At Newark Airport International Fugitive Wanted In Five-Kilo Cocaine Importing Ring Seized At Newark Airport
International Fugitive Wanted In Five-Kilo Cocaine Importing Ring Seized At Newark Airport An international fugitive wanted for having couriers smuggle more than five kilos of cocaine into the U.S. on a cruise ship was seized at Newark Airport after a decade on the run, federal authorities announced. A federal magistrate judge ordered that Dennis "Death" Edwards, a 38-year-old Guyanese national, remain held without bail following a brief hearing in Newark on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Edwards had avoided capture since being indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy charges in 2012, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Authorities said he conspired to import cocaine from St. Maar…
Tri-State Tour Company Founder Gets 7 Years, No Parole, In Child Porn Case Tri-State Tour Company Founder Gets 7 Years, No Parole, In Child Porn Case
Tri-State Tour Company Founder Gets 7 Years, No Parole, In Child Porn Case A tri-state nature tour company founder from North Jersey was sentenced to a plea-bargained seven years in federal prison for collecting hundreds of child porn images. Vaughn Tiedeman -- whose Living Adventure Tours operates in the Garden State, New York and Pennsylvania -- must serve out the entire term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. He'll also remain under supervised release for 10 years under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark on Thursday, Sept. 21. Special agents of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Inv…
NJ Lawyer Recorded Himself Sexually Exploiting 14-Year-Old Victims On Chat Website: Prosecutor NJ Lawyer Recorded Himself Sexually Exploiting 14-Year-Old Victims On Chat Website: Prosecutor
NJ Lawyer Recorded Himself Sexually Exploiting 14-Year-Old Victims On Chat Website: Prosecutor A New Jersey lawyer was charged with child endangerment and several other offenses after recording himself sexually exploiting several 14-year-old victims using an online chat site, authorities said. Michael Rave, 53, was charged with child endangerment for possession of child sexual abuse materials, as well as four counts each of promoting obscene material and criminal sexual contact, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said in a joint release alongside local officials. Rave, of Morris Township, was found with several videos that showed him exposing himself to 14-year-old victims us…
British Man Hired Undercover Agent To Arrange Sex With Drugged Girls: Feds British Man Hired Undercover Agent To Arrange Sex With Drugged Girls: Feds
British Man Hired Undercover Agent To Arrange Sex With Drugged Girls: Feds A British citizen has been charged with trying to pay for sex with New Jersey girls while giving them drugs, federal authorities said. Stephen Hudson, 51, of Ealing, England, is charged with one count of attempted online enticement of a minor and one count of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, they said. He was charged on Monday, May 9, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger He appeared by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge José R. Almonte in Newark federal court and was detained. According to authorities, from April 14, to Friday, May 6, H…
Man Who Showed Up For Sex With 'Girl,' 13, At NJ Motel Sent To Federal Prison Man Who Showed Up For Sex With 'Girl,' 13, At NJ Motel Sent To Federal Prison
Man Who Showed Up For Sex With 'Girl,' 13, At NJ Motel Sent To Federal Prison A Bronx man was sentenced to two years in federal prison for arranging what he thought would be sex with a 13-year-old girl at a New Jersey motel. Eduardo Silva, 44, must serve the entire term because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb also sentenced him to lifetime supervised release during a hearing in federal court in Camden on Thursday, April 28. Silva used a social media app to ask the “minor” whether she was “into older guys,” U.S Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He then “sent a series of explicit online communications and text mess…
COVID Mask Seller From Brooklyn Pleads Guilty To Gouging NJ Grocers At 400% Markup COVID Mask Seller From Brooklyn Pleads Guilty To Gouging NJ Grocers At 400% Markup
COVID Mask Seller From Brooklyn Pleads Guilty To Gouging NJ Grocers At 400% Markup A Brooklyn company admitted that it illegally made a killing off a New Jersey grocery store chain by selling it COVID masks during the pandemic at a 400% markup, federal authorities said. Milk & Honey Ventures and two partners bought 250,000 KN95 filtering facepiece respirators from a foreign manufacturer, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said Tuesday, March 29. MHV had never sold personal protective equipment before, Sellinger said. The company and one its partners sold 100,000 of the masks to a chain of New Jersey grocery stores at $5.25 per mask -- far in excess of prevailing marke…
VISA FRAUD: NJ Lawyer Busted By Feds In Undercover Sting VISA FRAUD: NJ Lawyer Busted By Feds In Undercover Sting
Visa Fraud: NJ Lawyer Busted By Feds In Undercover Sting A New Jersey attorney who lives in Pennsylvania was arrested by federal agents after he submitted a false visa application for a client who turned out to be a government informant, authorities said. Steven G. Thomas, 52, of New Hope, PA had been encouraging clients to apply for asylum under false pretenses, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Thomas, who operates a law firm in Montgomery Township, told them how they'd mostly succeed in their applications even though he knew full well that they didn't qualify, Sellinger said. Then he "prepared or cau…
CRYPTO CRIME: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust CRYPTO CRIME: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust
Crypto Crime: Rapping 'Crocodile of Wall Street,' Husband Nabbed In $4.5 Billion Bitcoin Bust The self-described “Crocodile of Wall Street” and her husband were arrested by federal agents in Manhattan on Tuesday, Feb. 8, on charges of conspiring to launder billions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen in a bombshell hack of a virtual currency exchange. Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Rhiannon Morgan, a 31-year-old business blogger/rapper, weren’t charged in the 2016 theft from Bitfinex of what at the time was $71 million worth of cryptocurrency – now valued at $4.5 billion. They are charged with conspiring to (a) commit money laundering and (b) defraud the United States, …
Man Charged In Deadly Union County Stabbing Man Charged In Deadly Union County Stabbing
Man Charged In Deadly Union County Stabbing A 52-year-old man has been charged in a deadly Plainfield stabbing, authorities said.  Marcelo Ixcuna-Castro killed Jose Maria Ixcuna-Chach, 37, on the 500 block of W Front Street around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel and Plainfield Police Director James T. Abney said. It was not clear how the two were related. Ixcuna-Castro was transported to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries before being released into custody without incident. He was being held in the Essex County Jail pending a first appearance. T…
NJ Ring That Dealt Fentanyl, Crack Smashed By Federal, County, Local Crime-Fighting Team NJ Ring That Dealt Fentanyl, Crack Smashed By Federal, County, Local Crime-Fighting Team
NJ Ring That Dealt Fentanyl, Crack Smashed By Federal, County, Local Crime-Fighting Team Eleven accused members of a drug ring that authorities said openly peddled crack and potentially fatal fentanyl in a Newark neighborhood were charged federally on Wednesday. The ring's "primary supplier," Frazier Burton, 46, was caught with 100 bricks of heroin and fentanyl when tactical officers arrested him Wednesday morning, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. At 50 bags per brick, that's 5,000 individual packages -- all of which Honig said carried the neighborhood drug network's particular stamps. The case took several months for an ad hoc team of local, county and federal inve…
Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town
Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town A New Jersey woman was convicted of participating in a massive ID theft scheme that had $565,091 in tax refunds from the IRS sent to a small section of the same town. Awilda Henriquez, 35, took her chances with a trial after three of her accomplices took guilty pleas. She was found guilty in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday of 27 counts involving defrauding the federal government, mail theft, stealing government money and aggravated ID theft, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Ring members filed more than 3,300 tax returns in 2013 using the names and Social Security numbe…
Jersey City Man Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen For $450,000 Phony Passport Bank Fraud Scheme Jersey City Man Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen For $450,000 Phony Passport Bank Fraud Scheme
Jersey City Man Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen For $450,000 Phony Passport Bank Fraud Scheme A Jersey City man must spend more than two years in federal prison for his role in a ring that used bogus passports and IRS refund checks to pocket more than $450,000. Mamadou Diallo, 44, also must pay $150,052 in restitution as part his plea deal with the government, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. For 6½ years, beginning in 2012, Diallo admitted, he and others stuck photos of themselves to passports bearing others’ names. They then used the bogus IDs to open bank accounts into which they deposited phony IRS refund checks. They withdrew the funds from ATM and teller termi…
NJ Founder Of Tri-State Nature Tour Company Takes Guilty Plea In Child Porn Case NJ Founder Of Tri-State Nature Tour Company Takes Guilty Plea In Child Porn Case
NJ Founder Of Tri-State Nature Tour Company Takes Guilty Plea In Child Porn Case The North Jersey founder of a tri-state nature tour company admitted Wednesday that he collected hundreds of child porn images, federal authorities said. Vaughn Tiedeman, 48, of Living Adventure Tours in Sussex County, was arrested by federal Homeland Security agents on child porn trafficking charges in early 2019. Between July 2018 and January 2019, the West Milford resident “downloaded and possessed more than 600 images of child sexual abuse, including images of young children and depictions of violence,” Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael Honig said. Rather than risk conviction…