Find Your Daily Voice
73°
Former Newark Officer Admits Taking Nearly $100K In Bribes From Brothel Owners
A former Newark police officer admitted he took more than $100,000 in bribes from brothel owners as protection money, authorities said.
Julio I. Rivera, 50, of Old Bridge, pleaded guilty to two counts of a 14-count indictment, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
A brothel owner on Emmet and Lafayette streets in Newark gave cash to Rivera, who in exchange protected the establishments and others from police, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Newark.
The officer accepted between $40,000 and $95,000 from the owner, authorities said.
Payments from that owner began…
Former Elizabeth Restaurant Owner Admits Stiffing IRS Of Nearly $200,000
The former owner of an Elizabeth restaurant admitted ducking nearly $200,000 in federal income taxes from the business.
Omar Rodriguez, 49, who owned Mojito’s Lounge on Bayview Avenue, told a federal judge in Trenton on Wednesday that he “skimmed a substantial portion of [gross cash receipts] for his personal use, which he did not report as income, and to pay Mojito’s employees and suppliers in cash,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.
Between 2015 and 2017, Rodriguez, of Parlin, received more than $844,000 in income from Mojito’s that he failed to report to the IRS, Carpenito said.
Of th…
California Rig Driver Caught With Kilos Of Heroin, Fentanyl In Morris Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen
A Salvadoran national will likely be deported after serving a 27-month plea-bargained federal prison term for driving a tractor-trailer that contained 22 pounds of heroin and nearly nine pounds of fentanyl when authorities stopped it in Morris County.
Joselito Colindres, 42, of Riverside, CA, previously admitted in U.S. District Court in Newark that he knew the drugs were in the trailer when he got to Pennsylvania, but he kept going to New Jersey, anyway.
Authorities converged on the rig in North Jersey on Oct. 21, 2018, arresting Colindres, who they said had been living in the country lega…
