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Monday, dec 16
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U.S. Department of Justice
Politics
NJ First Lady Murphy Won't Accept Senate Appointment
As speculation swirls over who Gov. Phil Murphy will pick to replace Sen. Bob Menendez, who announced his resignation, one prominent Garden Stater is already saying "no thanks." Tammy Murphy, the wife of the governor who ended her Senate campaign earlier this year, said on Tuesday, July 23, she would not accept the temporary appointment. "I am completely focused on the critical work of boosting infant and maternal health, combating climate change, and uplifting the voices of those in greatest need," New Jersey's First Lady said. "I am confident the Governor will appoint a&nbs…
Politics
Sen. Bob Menendez Announces Resignation
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez submitted his letter of resignation on Tuesday, July 23. Menendez's planned resignation, set for Aug. 20, comes one week after his conviction on felony corruption charges. A jury found the Democrat guilty on all 16 counts after prosecutors accused him of giving secret information and military aid to Egypt in exchange for various favors, according to a release by the US Department of Justice. Calls for Menendez's resignation had reached a fever pitch following his conviction and the Senate Ethics Committee was preparing an investigation that could…
News
'So I Raped You:' NJ Woman's Accused Rapist To Be Extradited From France: Report
Almost three years after a warrant was issued for the arrest of a Pennsylvania college student's accused rapist, he was taken into custody in France, numerous outlets reported in May. Despite his appeal to not be extradited, a court ruled that he will be sent back to Pennsylvania for a trial, according to a release on Monday, July 8, AP reported. Ian Thomas Cleary, 31, who has been living in Europe for several years, was taken into custody in Metz in April 2024 a prosecutor told previously Associated Press. Cleary was accused of raping Gettysburg Co…
Police & Fire
'You Will All Die': FBI Seizes NJ Man Who Threatened White Massacre
FBI agents in New Jersey seized a discharged U.S. Marine who they said publicly threatened to massacre as many white people as he could. "I want to erase them," Joshua Cobb, 23, posted on social media, according to U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger. "All of them really, but in this case as many as I possibly can." Interviewed by law enforcement, Cobb admitted writing the posts and even identified what he'd considered potential targets, including a Jersey Strong gym and an Aldi grocery store in Robbinsville, the U.S. attorney said on Monday, May 13. He "also discussed hi…
Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Longshoreman Gets 2½ Years For Ducking Taxes On $2.5M Of Income
A Port Newark mechanic who was convicted of ducking taxes on $2.5 million of income was sentenced to nearly 2½ years in federal prison. Jonathan Michael, 55, of Springfield had filed returns and paid his taxes without fail for decades, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release. In 2014, however, he gave his employer in the machine shop at the Port Newark Container Terminal a bogus W-4 form, claiming that he was exempt from any federal income tax withholding from his pay, federal authorities said. The IRS notified Michael in 2016 that he wasn't entitled to exempt status, but he wrote…
News
Somalian Goes To Prison For Threatening To Assassinate Biden, Trump If They Ran For Reelection
A Somalian man living in Pennsylvania threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, and now he's in a Pennsylvania Prison, according to a release by the US Department of Justice on March 15, 2024. Mohamed Farah, 34, who was living in Cumberland County, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson to three years’ imprisonment on Wednesday, March 13. Following his release, the Court has also imposed a three-year term of probation. "The indictment alleges that in January 2022, Farah, who is a citizen of Somalia, threatened to ass…
Police & Fire
Jacket With Name, Phone Number Led Feds Right To Capitol Rioter From New Jersey: DOJ
A Toms River man wearing a jacket with his business's name and phone number on the front of it to the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection has been arrested more than three years later. Robert Coppotelli was charged with four misdemeanor counts of illegally entering the Capitol and disrupting the joint session of Congress to count the electoral college votes in the 2020 Presidential election. The accusations against Coppotelli were outlined in a court document filed on Friday, Feb. 16. Prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice said an anonymous tip in July 2021 identified …
Police & Fire
NJ Pair Staged Dog Fights, Shared Vids On Telegram Of 'Underperformers' Being Hanged: Feds
Two South Jersey men were charged by federal authorities with participating in a depraved multi-state dog-fighting collective. Tommy J. Watson of Clayton and others used the “DMV Board” on the Telegram app to share videos of live dog fights, dogs being trained to fight and "the killing of underperforming fighting dogs, including by hanging,” U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Monday, Dec. 11. They also posted bloodline information on the dog fighting website “Peds Online” from an operation they called “From Da Bottom Kennels,” the U.S. attorney said. Federal authoriti…
Police & Fire
'I Am The Attacker': Former High School Student Admits Threat That Shook Synagogues Across NJ
A 19-year-old New Jersey man faces up to five years in federal prison after admitting that he posted threats to a synagogue and Jewish people. Omar Alkattoul of Sayreville posted a manifesto last Nov. 1 in a forum frequented by extremists that included a claim of an attack that he said had already occurred. This triggered instant alarms because active shooters in certain instances have done the same just before carrying out fatal missions across the U.S. Alkattoul frightened Jews statewide, sparked a surge of law enforcement tactical protection at their houses of worship and prompted the F…
Police & Fire
Mastermind Of Historic $175M Psychic Mail Scam Convicted, Feds Cite More Than 1M Victims
The mastermind of a mass-mailing scam that stole $175 million from more than a million victims, most of them elderly or ailing, was convicted by a federal jury in New York City. Patrice Runner, a 57-year-old Canadian and French citizen, directed a ruthless psychic mail scheme for over two decades, beginning in 1994, the jurors found. It was one of the largest -- if not the largest -- scam of its kind ever, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday, June 16, in announcing the verdict reached a day earlier on Long Island. Runner sent mailings to millions of Americans that claimed t…
News
Stillborn Baby Corpses Sold By Nationwide Network:
Usdoj
Indictment
Two Pennsylvania men have been indicted in connection to purchasing human body parts— including stillborn babies— from medical students through social media, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Those indicted for conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges— the goods being human body parts— are as follows according to the US Department of Justice: Cedric Lodge, age 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire. Katrina Maclean, age 44, of Salem, Massachusetts. Joshua Taylor, age 46, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania. Denise Lo…
News
Emmy-Nominated Producer Charged In Child Porn Scandal: Feds
A former ABC employee and Emmy Award-nominated journalist is facing federal charges for transporting photos that show the sexual abuse of children, said officials who noted he had been corresponding with others who “expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children.” James Gordon Meek, who resigned from ABC in April 2022 the day his Virginia home was raided, had several devices that contained images depicting children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, the US Department of Justice announced. Meek also had engaged in multiple conversations over apps and other platforms with…
News
Bizman Who Laundered $2.5M In Drug Money Through NJ, NY Gets Nearly 10 Years, No Parole
A Puerto Rican man must spend nearly a decade in federal prison for laundering more than $2.5 million in drug proceeds through New Jersey and New York. Osvaldo Villegas Rivera, 57, of Rio Piedras, conspired with others to move the money from Miami to Venezuela between 2017 and 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release on Friday, Oct. 28. "The proceeds consisted of five deliveries of bulk cash picked up in the New York and New Jersey area that Villegas knew to be traceable to the sale of cocaine," according to the release. Villegas "also employed a network of couriers to move t…
News
Worldwide Ransomware Rampage: Iranians Hack NJ Town, PA Domestic Violence Shelter, Feds Charge
Federal authorities are offering a $10 million reward to help locate a trio of Iranian nationals who held the computer systems of a New Jersey town, a domestic violence shelter in Pennsylvania and hundreds of other victims across the U.S. and abroad hostage in a series of hack attacks. Using Microsoft’s BitLocker security tool, the hackers locked up and then stole secure files before sending ransom notes – some of which were spit out on the victims’ printers, the FBI said on Wednesday, Sept. 14. The unidentified shelter ended up paying $13,000 in bitcoin to retrieve its files, according to …
News
NJ Pet Food Manufacturer With 'Grossly Insanitary Conditions' Halts Production, FDA Says
A New Jersey-based pet food manufacturer has stopped sales after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cited the company for operating under "grossly insanitary conditions." Bravo Packing, Inc., of Carney's Point, agreed to stop selling, manufacturing, and distributing raw pet food pending compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). During inspections in 2019 and 2021, the FDA found evidence of significant food safety violations including grossly insanitary conditions and the failure to follow Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations…
News
Capitol Rioter, Penn State Grad Dies By Suicide Month Before Sentencing
A Pennsylvania man charged in the US Jan. 6 Capitol riot died by suicide a month before he was set to be sentenced, according to the Mercer County coroner's office. Matthew Lawrence Perna, 37, died on Friday, Feb. 25 after taking his own life at his home, the coroner’s office says. His sentencing date was set for Friday, April 1, in the US District Court District of Columbia court records show. Perna was federally indicted in the Capitol riot and pleaded guilty in December to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding an…
News
4 Men Arrested For Selling Fentanyl-Laced Heroin To Actor Michael K. Williams
Four men have been arrested and charged in connection with the fatal overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams, according to a release by the US Department of Justice. All four men were taken into custody on Tuesday– including one defendant who was arrested in Puerto Rico, according to the news release. Williams, 54, died of acute drug intoxication Sept. 6, according to the New York City medical examiner's office. The office previously ruled the death accidental and no foul play was suspected according to statements by law enforcement in the days and weeks following his death. Three o…
News
Pedo Who Got No Prison Time For Sexually Assaulting Boy, 5, In Grenada Faces Long Sentence Here
A New York City man who got no prison time in Grenada after admitting that he sexually assaulted a 5-year-old boy there is facing justice here in the United States. Seized by U.S. government agents, Treverson Roberts, 27, pleaded guilty to the crime in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday in a bid for leniency. Roberts certainly won't get the kind of leniency he got in Grenada. The maximum penalty here is 30 years. The dual U.S. and Grenadian citizen -- who lives in Brooklyn -- will also have to serve out just about all of his eventual sentence. There's no parole in the U.S. federal prison …
News
NJ Capitol Rioter Known For Hitler Mustache Ousted From Military
A contractor to the US Navy has been ousted from the US Army Reserves for his participation in the Capitol Riot on Jan. 6, according to federal officials. Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, 31, of Monmouth County -- know for his Hitler mustache -- was in federal custody in Washington, D.C. awaiting trial, according to court documents released by the US Department of Justice. Hale-Cusanelli was among the first Capitol rioters apprehended back in Jan, as media outlets reported at the time. He was a contracted security officer at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck, and a member of an Army Reserv…
News
House Arrest Reduced For PA Woman Accused Of Stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Laptop
The Pennsylvania woman accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop successfully petitioned the court to allow her 13 hours a day outside her home while she awaits trial, according to court records. Riley June Williams, 22 of Harrisburg, was arrested in Jan. on charges related to illegally entering the US Capitol building and later was charged with stealing Pelosi's laptop, according to the US Department of Justice. Williams' defense team filed the petition with US District Court in D.C. on Tuesday. The request was apparently made on the grounds that she needs to seek employmen…
News
Pennsylvania Man Accused Of Attacking Police At Capitol Riot Temporarily Freed
A Manheim Township man accused of attacking a police officer breaking his body cam during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was released from prison while he awaits trial, federal officials said. Michael J. Lopatic, 57, was originally scheduled to have a hearing on whether he should be freed Thursday-- instead on Monday, the hearing was cancelled and he was released, according to court documents. U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan has been presiding over the case where Lopatic was a co-defendant with two other men, according to the US Department of Justice indictment. The men are fac…
News
Jackson Township Officials 'Weaponized' Zoning Laws To Suppress Orthodox Jews, State Charges
Jackson Township officials “weaponized” zoning laws against Orthodox Jews, making it difficult for them to practice their religion while discouraging others from moving in, state authorities charged Tuesday. Mayor Michael Reina and members of the township council, planning board and zoning board of adjustment devised the anti-Semitic scheme to stop what a former official called “the tsunami of orthodoxy that is mounting at the border," alleges a lawsuit filed by the state. The group was trying to appease a number of intolerant residents who complained to them at public meetings and in hatef…
News
Update
: Police Nab Stolen Car Driver Who Hit Fellow Patron Outside Route 46 Strip Club
UPDATE: A manhunt ended when South Hackensack police arrested a Newark resident who they said stole a sedan outside a Route 46 strip club and struck another customer with it in the parking lot as he fled. Christian H. Quimis, 33, was being held in the Bergen County Jail after South Hackensack and Hackensack police arrested him arrest at his home on Monday. "Within 36 hours of the initial incident, our suspect was in custody thanks to fine investigative work of several agencies" Capt. Robert Chinchar said. Quimis had tried to break up a fight in the parking lot of Club Flamingo around 3 …
News
Four More NJ Prison Officers Charged In Vicious Beatings Of Female Inmates
UPDATE: Four more correctional officers have been charged in the brutal beating and pepper-spraying of inmates at a New Jersey women’s prison, bringing the total to eight, authorities announced Thursday. Of the four officers newly charged for the January incident at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, one is from Maywood, another from Paterson, a third from Somerset and the other from East Piscataway. All four senior officers “purposely or knowingly attempted to cause serious bodily injury to inmates as an accomplice or as a principal by using force beyond what was objectively reasonable …
News
Three Prison Officers Charged Criminally In Vicious Beating Of Inmates At NJ Women’s Prison
One of three correctional police officers charged with severely beating and pepper-spraying inmates at New Jersey’s notorious women’s prison last month punched one of them in the face 28 times, state authorities said Thursday. And it was all caught on video, they said. Sgt. Amir Bethea, Sgt. Anthony Valvano and Officer Lisando “Luis” Garcia were all charged with official misconduct for what Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal described as a vicious and unrelenting attack on several inmates at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County beginning shortly before mid…
Police & Fire
Capitol
Riots
: PA Man Wanted On NJ Warrant Charged With Assaulting Female Officer
A Bucks County, PA man wanted for assault out of Burlington County, NJ was arrested on accusations he attacked police during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, leaving one with a concussion, federal prosecutors said. Ryan Stephen Samsel, 37, of Bristol has been charged with assaulting a federal officer, obstructing law enforcement, and obstructing a legal proceeding, according to federal court documents unsealed Monday. Footage from the riots captured Samsel -- who traveled to Washington D.C from Bristol Borough -- apparently leading a group of rioters toward the Capitol, documents say. After top…
News
'Sickened By Reports,' Murphy Orders Investigation Of Abuse At Notorious Women's Prison
UPDATE: Gov. Phil Murphy appointed a special investigator Wednesday to probe allegations that several inmates were beaten at New Jersey's notorious prison for women. Murphy said he ordered a "full independent investigation," under the direction of former federal prosecutor and ex-state comptroller Matthew Boxer, into what happened at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County on Jan. 11. “I am sickened by the horrific reports of what happened” Murphy said. Female inmates "have long been uniquely vulnerable to abuse" and must be "treated with dignity and respect" li…
News
Administrator, Supervisors, 20 Officers Suspended At Notorious NJ Women’s Prison
UPDATE: A total of 29 officers and supervisors at New Jersey's notorious prison for women have been suspended amid a criminal investigation of allegations that several inmates were beaten, Daily Voice has learned. Among those on paid administrative leave at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County were an associate administrator, two corrections majors, a corrections lieutenant, five corrections sergeants and 20 corrections officers, according to a memo obtained by Daily Voice. ****** UPDATE: Gov. Phil Murphy appointed a special investigator Wednesday to probe all…
News
Feds Accuse South Jersey Jail Of Violating Addicted Inmates' Constitutional Rights
The federal government on Thursday accused officials who run the Cumberland County Jail of failing to prevent suicides and provide adequate mental health care to drug-addicted inmates suffering from withdrawal. “There is reasonable cause to believe that the facility failed to screen for or provide adequate mental health treatment to inmates at risk of self-harm and suicide, in violation of the Eighth and 14th Amendments of the Constitution,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release. “Inmates faced a heightened risk of self-harm and suicide due to the jail’s failure to provide medica…
News
Feds: NJ Job Recruiter Pays Fine, Back Pay For Not Referring Eligible Non-US Citizens
A Somerset County IT staffing agency agreed to pay a fine to the government and back pay to a worker to settle claims that it discriminated against work-authorized non-U.S. citizens, federal authorities said Wednesday. Recruiters at Collabera, Inc., of Basking Ridge deliberately “refused to pass on to clients non-U.S. citizens who held permanent work authorization unless they could provide an unexpired immigration document,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release. “On at least 39 occasions, Collabera required non-U.S. citizens to present specific documentation to prove their work …
News
Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years
A worldwide investigation that produced a 20-year federal prison sentence for an Indian national who ran call centers that defrauded Americans across the U.S. out of millions of dollars got a huge boost from police in Leonia. Leonia Detective Michael Jennings, in particular, did legwork that helped federal authorities eventually identify Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, 44, as the ringleader of the transnational scheme. For that reason, police in the Bergen County borough near the George Washington Bridge got a shout-out from the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday. It began in 2015 when Jennings …
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