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U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi

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Hudson County Man Admits Getting Kids, Dad To Send Homemade Porn That He Shared On Social Hudson County Man Admits Getting Kids, Dad To Send Homemade Porn That He Shared On Social
Hudson County Man Admits Getting Kids, Dad To Send Homemade Porn That He Shared On Social A Union City man admitted getting two underage victims and a pedophile dad in the Dominican Republic to send him homemade child porn that he then shared on social media, federal authorities said. Posing as a teenage boy, Ramon Zelaya, 36, used an Instagram account to persuade a minor to send him a "revealing" photo, then used that to "entice, threaten, and coerce" the victim into sending him sexually explicit videos and other images, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Zelaya also conspired with an unidentified individual in the Dominican Republic on Facebook to sexually abuse that pers…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: NJ Service Station Manager Admits Stealing $78,000 From Amtrak, Regular Customers Feds: NJ Service Station Manager Admits Stealing $78,000 From Amtrak, Regular Customers
Feds: NJ Service Station Manager Admits Stealing $78,000 From Amtrak, Regular Customers A New Jersey service station manager admitted stealing $78,000 from more than 17 customers, including Amtrak, through bogus charges for gas, federal authorities said. Umer Hassan Mir, 40, of South Amboy told a federal judge in Newark on Tuesday that he deposited the charges into the coffers of a Delta gas station in Metuchen, then siphoned off the proceeds in cash from the register over the course of 3½ years. Some of the bogus charges were entered on fuel credit cards leased by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and assigned to Amtrak vehicles, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: Bergen Pill Mill Doc Who Called Himself 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Gets 6 Years, No Parole Feds: Bergen Pill Mill Doc Who Called Himself 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Gets 6 Years, No Parole
Feds: Bergen Pill Mill Doc Who Called Himself 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Gets 6 Years, No Parole A Bergen County doctor who called himself the “El Chapo of Opioids” was sentenced to six years in federal prison for doling out pain killers like candy and fudging medical records to cover it up. Robert Delagente, 48, of Oakland, must serve out the entire plea-bargained sentence approved by a federal judge in Newark on Thursday, May 5, because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Delagente, who’d practiced at North Jersey Family Medicine on Yawpo Avenue in Oakland, randomly wrote prescriptions for oxycodone, Percocet and more with no questions asked, then tried to cover his track…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients
Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients UPDATE: A confessed ID scammer from Tenafly was sentenced to two years and two days in federal prison for posing as 18 different people to collect tax refunds, authorities said. Emmanuel A. Barrientos-Fermin, 39, must serve all of the term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Barrientos-Fermin previously admitted in US. District Court in Newark that he gave an unnamed co-conspirator a photo of himself that was used to produce bogus driver’s licenses with his picture on them. The co-conspirator also gave him matching Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and W-2 forms …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ex-Con From NY State Admits Trying To Get Loaded Gun Through Newark Airport Security Ex-Con From NY State Admits Trying To Get Loaded Gun Through Newark Airport Security
Ex-Con From NY State Admits Trying To Get Loaded Gun Through Newark Airport Security An ex-con from New York admitted trying to slip a loaded, stolen gun through the security checkpoint at Newark Airport late last year, authorities said. Desmond Herring, 48, of Newburgh, NY made a beeline for his gate when a TSA officer staffing the checkpoint X-ray monitor found the loaded weapon -- along with boxes of ammo -- in his carry-on bag on Nov. 29, 2021, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said. Port Authority police collected the bag and examined its contents, the TSA said at the time. Along with the 9mm pistol were 10 rounds loaded into a magazine, along with anot…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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$1.5M Cosmetics Company Scam Sends Englewood Swindler To Federal Prison For 2½ Years $1.5M Cosmetics Company Scam Sends Englewood Swindler To Federal Prison For 2½ Years
$1.5M Cosmetics Company Scam Sends Englewood Swindler To Federal Prison For 2½ Years A former Englewood resident must serve nearly 2½ years in federal prison for scamming three investors out of $1.5 million. Matthew Benjamin, 54, used the victims' money for car and house rental payments, food, international travel, legal fees, technology equipment and summer camp tuition for family members, among other purposes, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Benjamin, currently of New York, told the victims that his purported company, Clear Solutions Group, had lucrative contracts to purchase closeout or excess cosmetic inventory from one company that he planned to …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ex-Con Carjacker Who Was Run Over, Pinned By Newark Police Car Takes Plea In Federal Court Ex-Con Carjacker Who Was Run Over, Pinned By Newark Police Car Takes Plea In Federal Court
Ex-Con Carjacker Who Was Run Over, Pinned By Newark Police Car Takes Plea In Federal Court A Newark ex-con who was run over and pinned by a city police car as he tried to flee an armed carjacking took a guilty plea in federal court on Tuesday, authorities said. Jared Walker, 24, had to be rescued after being run over while hiding in snow-covered grass shortly after 2 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2020. Walker had just taken a 2008 Ford E-350 van at gunpoint from its driver, who eventually managed to escape and call police, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Walker hit a police car and several other vehicles with the van before crashing through a fence and into a parking lot, authorit…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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TAX SCAM: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds TAX SCAM: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds
TAX Scam: Bergen Man Admits Posing As 18 Different Recipients To Collect Refunds A Bergen County man admitted collecting tax refunds by using stolen identities to pose as 18 different people. Emmanuel A. Barrientos-Fermin, 33, of Tenafly told a federal judge via videoconference in Newark on Tuesday that he gave an unnamed co-conspirator a photo of himself. The accomplice then produced bogus driver’s licenses with his picture on them, he said. The co-conspirator also gave him matching Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and W-2 forms – even birth certificates, Barrientos-Fermin said. Armed with the documents, Barrientos-Fermin said, he went to various tax preparin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NJ Insurance Broker Admits Building BBQ Restaurant With More Than $1M Swindled From Investors NJ Insurance Broker Admits Building BBQ Restaurant With More Than $1M Swindled From Investors
NJ Insurance Broker Admits Building BBQ Restaurant With More Than $1M Swindled From Investors An insurance broker from Union County admitted in federal court Tuesday that he swindled unwitting investors out of more than $1 million that he sunk, instead, into a BBQ joint. Ivan Ramos, 39, of Hillside was working for New York Life when he sought out inexperienced investors from among customers who bought life insurance from him or people he met at company marketing events or through mutual acquaintances, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachel Honig said. He “led his victims to believe, through misrepresentations and omissions, that two entities that he controlled, Invexperts LLC and Wealth Seeds…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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North Arlington Meth Dealer Caught Selling 8 Balls Gets Nine Years In Fed Pen North Arlington Meth Dealer Caught Selling 8 Balls Gets Nine Years In Fed Pen
North Arlington Meth Dealer Caught Selling 8 Balls Gets Nine Years In Fed Pen A convicted North Arlington meth dealer who was caught selling “8 balls” must spend the next nine years in federal prison. A federal judge in Newark sentenced Jeff DelaCruz, 38, to the plea-bargained term on Tuesday for having nearly two ounces of meth for sale. DelaCruz must serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. DEA agents watched in May 2019 as DelaCruz sold two “8-balls” of methamphetamine for $350 in cash, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. He then agreed to sell three ounces of meth to a buyer for about $3,000, Carpenito added…

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by Jerry DeMarco