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Tag: U.S. District Court in Newark
Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds
A California man was minutes from a dropoff after driving more than a dozen pounds of fentanyl and heroin cross country to New Jersey when he was stopped in Fort Lee for running a stop sign, authorities said.
Timothy Alan Blank, 54, of Reseda, CA, made it 2,800 miles before Fort Lee police pulled his SUV over in Englewood Cliffs north of Sylvan and Myrtle avenues last Friday, March 8, according to a federal complaint.
A Bergen County Sheriff's K-9 directed officers to the trunk, where it says they found the five kilos wrapped in five bricks.
Blank collected the wrapped $195,000 of heroin a…
Gunman Gets 8 Years, No Parole, For $35,000 Secaucus Bank Robbery
An out-of-state man who admitted robbing a bank in Secaucus of $35,000 in cash at gunpoint was sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison, authorities said.
Jose Luis Martinez, 33, of Iowa, must serve all of the plea-bargained 94-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
Martinez was wearing glasses, an Everlast hoodie and two wool caps when he entered the Bank of America branch on Park Plaza Drive on Jan. 5, 2017, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
He pointed a long-barreled gun at a teller and said he'd “shoot her and other customer…
Elderly NJ Couple's Personal Assistant Stole $2.9M From Them, Feds Charge
An elderly Bergen County couple had $2.9 million stolen by a now-former Ridgewood Public Library tech administrator whom they'd hired to be a part-time assistant at their home, federal authorities said following his arrest.
Charles Gallo, 34, of Hawthorne, was responsible for managing the victims’ monthly bills, handling their banking and helping them with email and other issues involving technology after being hired in 2018, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
The couple trusted Gallo with their personal bank accounts, credit card accounts, online retail accounts and email, the U.S. at…
Gotcha! Here's How FBI Says It Nabbed Paterson Kidnappers
A Paterson resident who'd just been kidnapped was being shown a photo array of suspects when he suddenly pointed at one of the pictures.
The man in the photo, Joel Ramon Garcia, 33, of Paterson, and an accomplice had held him at gunpoint last month during a six-hour car ride to Massachusetts, while demanding a ransom from his father, before releasing the victim two days later, the FBI said.
Federal agents quickly captured both Garcia and Julio Cesar Paniagua, 27, at the same time.
Credit the victim's assistance and some sound detective work.
It began on Nov. 15, when the victim's father c…
Jurors Convict Elizabeth Man Who Lured Out-Of-State Escorts To NJ, Then Raped And Beat Them
Federal jurors in Newark convicted an Elizabeth man of luring out-of-state escorts to New Jersey for sex with false promises of paying them tens of thousands of dollars, authorities said.
Jose Torres, 45, refused to pay those who accepted the offer and often raped and beat any who pressed him for the money, according to an indictment that led to his conviction on Wednesday, Oct. 11, following a six-day trial.
Jurors in federal court in Newark found Torres guilty of four counts of persuading, inducing, and enticing women to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, U…
Busted: Feds Charge NJ Pair With Selling Five Guns, Fentanyl, Coke to CI
Two Newark men were nabbed after illegally selling five guns to an undercover operative working for the government, authorities said.
One of them, Carlo M. De Leon De Jesus, 26, peddled four of the firearms and also sold fentanyl and cocaine, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives conducted three controlled buys from DeJesus from this past July through September, the U.S. attorney said.
The conversations were secretly recorded, he said, as the confidential informant bought:
a Glock 19 pistol for $1,500 in cash;
an E…
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea
UPDATE: A burglar from a crew that targeted Asian and Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware took a deal from the government rather than risk the outcome of a trial, federal authorities said.
James Hurt, 47, of New York, was part of a second-story outfit that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity."
One of Hurt's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI c…
NJ Computer Counterfeiters Admit Selling Cisco Networking Knockoffs
Three North Jersey business owners admitted importing and selling cheap knockoffs of Cisco Systems networking equipment after federal agents seized an unprecedented $14 million worth of the devices from their warehouse in Passaic County.
Musa Karaman, 35, of North Arlington, was the last of the trio to take a deal from the government, pleading guilty to trafficking counterfeit goods in U.S. District Court in Newark on Thursday, Aug. 24.
Accomplices Sadri Ozturan, 37, of Hawthorne, and Israfil "David" Demir, 38, of Secaucus both pleaded guilty to the same charges on Aug. 8, U.S. Attorney for…
Burglar With Hit List Of Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Gets 50 Months In Federal Prison
UPDATE: A member of a second-story crew who targeted Asian and Asian-American homeowners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware for burglaries was sentenced to a plea-bargained four years and two months in federal prison, authorities said.
Randi Barr, 42, of Union County, NJ, was part of a group that worked from a hit list of dozens of homes based on “stereotype and opportunity,” federal authorities said.
Local, state and federal law enforcement authorities who teamed up to smash the ring found notes in the defendants’ cars that had the home addresses of individuals of Asian des…
