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Police & Fire
Feds: Ex Of ‘Real Housewives Of NJ’ Star Had Current Husband Beaten By Mobsters Feds: Ex Of ‘Real Housewives Of NJ’ Star Had Current Husband Beaten By Mobsters
Feds: Ex Of ‘Real Housewives Of NJ’ Star Had Current Husband Beaten By Mobsters FBI agents arrested the ex-husband of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dina Manzo along with a reputed mobster Tuesday for having Manzo’s current husband beaten in exchange for a lavish wedding reception at the Brownstone Restaurant in Paterson, authorities said. Brownstone co-owner Thomas "Tommy" Manzo, 55, of Franklin Lakes, hired Lucchese Crime Family member John Perna, 43, of Cedar Grove to assault Dina Manzo's then-boyfriend and current husband, David Cantin, in July 2015, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said following the arrests. In exchange, Perna “held a lavish wedding recept…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Registered Rockland Sex Offender Gets House Arrest For Violating Federal Release With Minor Registered Rockland Sex Offender Gets House Arrest For Violating Federal Release With Minor
Registered Rockland Sex Offender Gets House Arrest For Violating Federal Release With Minor A registered sex offender from Rockland County who spent a year in federal prison for assaulting a woman on a flight from Israel to Newark Liberty International Airport was sentenced Thursday to time served for sexually abusing a minor after his release, authorities said. Yoel Oberlander, 39, of Monsey had served a plea-bargained year behind bars for the airborne May 2016 assault when he was arrested by Ramapo police in June 2019. Oberlander later admitted that he’d picked up an underage victim for sex in his car during what was three years of federal supervised release, U.S. Attorney Craig…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FBI: Drone Leads Divers To Devices Jersey Shore Child Porn Collector, 52, Tossed Into Water FBI: Drone Leads Divers To Devices Jersey Shore Child Porn Collector, 52, Tossed Into Water
FBI: Drone Leads Divers To Devices Jersey Shore Child Porn Collector, 52, Tossed Into Water A law enforcement drone helped the FBI find an iPad and iPhone containing child pornography that a collector under investigation tossed into a Jersey Shore creek, authorities said. Federal authorities on Thursday charged Charles F. Browne, 52, currently of South River, with uploading images of child sexual abuse to a Dropbox account and “concealing objects to impede the FBI’s investigation,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Officials at Dropbox Inc. alerted them to the images, uploaded to an account with the screen name “Charles Browne” and an email address containing the term “cbrowne,”…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Jersey Shore Man Busted With Child Porn Collection Feds: Jersey Shore Man Busted With Child Porn Collection
Feds: Jersey Shore Man Busted With Child Porn Collection Federal Homeland Security agents on Wednesday arrested a Jersey Shore man who they said collected child pornography. Agents began investigating Joseph J. Punderson, 31, of Island Heights after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Tracing emails and social media accounts, they learned that Punderson “received and possessed images and videos of child sexual abuse downloaded from the Internet,” Carpenito said. U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni ordered Punderson held without bail on charges of recei…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds Crash Major Heroin Deal At Jersey Shore Wawa, Nab Bronx Man, Indictment Says Feds Crash Major Heroin Deal At Jersey Shore Wawa, Nab Bronx Man, Indictment Says
Feds Crash Major Heroin Deal At Jersey Shore Wawa, Nab Bronx Man, Indictment Says Federal agents nabbed a Bronx man as he tried to sell a kilo of heroin in the parking lot of a Jersey Shore Wawa, authorities said. The arrest of Luis Payano-Perez, 36, was outlined in an indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in Trenton charging him with possessing more than 3½ ounces of the drug with the intent to sell it, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. A confidential informant tipped off the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that Payano-Perez was prepared to sell the heroin in the parking lot of a Tuckerton Waway the night of …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Parking Authority Employee Admits Selling Drugs, Having Guns On Duty Newark Parking Authority Employee Admits Selling Drugs, Having Guns On Duty
Newark Parking Authority Employee Admits Selling Drugs, Having Guns On Duty A Newark Parking Authority employee who already had a criminal record admitted Wednesday in federal court that he supplemented his income selling heroin and crack and dealing in guns, authorities said. FBI agents arrested Aughkay “Kay Boogie” Green, 49, after he sold nearly three ounces combined of heroin and crack in separate deals, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Green also got a cut of $1,360 that an associate made selling two Smith and Wesson handguns – one a .44-caliber Model 21, the other a .38-caliber Model 15, along with 50 rounds of hollow-point .44-caliber ammo -- in exchange …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fed Pen Awaits Newark Ex-Con With Weapons History Who Had Different Guns In Separate Incidents Fed Pen Awaits Newark Ex-Con With Weapons History Who Had Different Guns In Separate Incidents
Fed Pen Awaits Newark Ex-Con With Weapons History Who Had Different Guns In Separate Incidents An ex-con from Newark who was carrying three different guns on three separate days – one of which he was seen firing at another man -- is headed to federal prison for an extended stretch. Samaad “Spud” Kelly, 33, already was a convicted felon when Essex County sheriff’s officers stopped his 2002 BMW wagon for having tinted windows on April 24, 2019 and found a Taurus semi-automatic 9 millimeter handgun in the glove box, authorities said. Kelly remained jailed all of eight days before a judge ordered him released on May 2 under New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law, records show. Three days lat…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen-Based Debt Reliever From Wayne Admits Scamming Victims Out Of $5 Million Bergen-Based Debt Reliever From Wayne Admits Scamming Victims Out Of $5 Million
Bergen-Based Debt Reliever From Wayne Admits Scamming Victims Out Of $5 Million A Bergen County lending company founder from Wayne who promised to help desperate, low-income customers pay off crushing loans admitted Thursday that he pushed them even further into debt while pocketing more than $5 million. Edward Espinal, 44, of Wayne, who pleaded guilty videoconference to securities fraud and conspiracy in exchange for leniency at sentencing, is “the quintessential con artist,” Acting FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Korneski said. “He played a shell game with other people’s hard-earned money, making promises he never intended to keep, and walking away with ill-gott…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Somerset Man, 44, Flew To Philippines For Online-Planned Sex With Minors Feds: Somerset Man, 44, Flew To Philippines For Online-Planned Sex With Minors
Feds: Somerset Man, 44, Flew To Philippines For Online-Planned Sex With Minors A Somerset County man flew to the Philipines several times to have sex with four underage victims after arranging meetings online, said federal authorities who arrested him. James A. Diggs, 44, of Somerville, had his first appearance Wednesday before a U.S. magistrate judge on charges of online enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and foreign travel to engage in criminal sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Diggs first used an online messaging app to “persuade, induce, entice, and coerce” the first victim to agree to have sex with him for money or gifts during …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Burn This (Expletive) Down!': Atlantic City Man's Posts Urged Violence Against Police 'Burn This (Expletive) Down!': Atlantic City Man's Posts Urged Violence Against Police
'Burn This (Expletive) Down!': Atlantic City Man's Posts Urged Violence Against Police Carlos A. Matchett of Atlantic City kept furiously posting messages on Facebook for days urging violence against police – right up until FBI agents arrested him on rioting charges Wednesday. “LET’S START A RIOT” Matchett, 30, wrote in one. “Burn This M*****f****r Downnn!!!” read another. Matchett also shared a post that said, in part: “The point of a riot isn’t to solve anything. The point is to f**k sh*t up since nothing could be solved to begin with.” Then came the so-called smoking gun: A cellphone video that federal authorities said showed him helping people loot goods from smashed …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
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
Police & Fire
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