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U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton

Police & Fire
Newark Rapper Tsu Surf Gets 5 Years, No Parole, For Leadership Role In Armed, Violent Drug Gang Newark Rapper Tsu Surf Gets 5 Years, No Parole, For Leadership Role In Armed, Violent Drug Gang
Newark Rapper Tsu Surf Gets 5 Years, No Parole, For Leadership Role In Armed, Violent Drug Gang Battle rapper Tsu Surf must spend a plea-bargained five years in federal prison for what authorities described as a leadership role in a violent drug-selling Newark street gang. The 32-year-old rapper – whose real name is Rahjon Cox -- was one of 10 reputed members of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips charged under federal RICO statutes following a massive North Jersey roundup last year. A total of 42 targets in all were arrested in a series of pinpointed attacks on organized gangs dealing drugs, packing weapons and waging street warfare, federal authorities said at the time. Cox took a d…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
$2M NJ Scammer Who Claimed Dead People As Biz Partners Gets 3 Years, No Parole $2M NJ Scammer Who Claimed Dead People As Biz Partners Gets 3 Years, No Parole
$2M NJ Scammer Who Claimed Dead People As Biz Partners Gets 3 Years, No Parole UPDATE: A scammer from Sussex County who fraudulently collected more than $2 million in federal funds by identifying people who'd been dead for more than a decade as business partners must spend the next three years in federal prison. John Jhong, 54, of Sparta, actually submitted bogus applications for more than $15 million in federal pandemic aid earmarked to help struggling companies during COVID-19, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Jhong "turned these vital relief programs into his personal ATM," spending the more than $2 million he illegally collected on personal expenses, the U.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NY Man Who Assaulted Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Gets 2 Years, No Parole NY Man Who Assaulted Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Gets 2 Years, No Parole
NY Man Who Assaulted Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Gets 2 Years, No Parole UPDATE: An upstate New York man who admitted assaulting a fellow passenger on a flight from Denver to Newark must spend two plea-bargained years in federal prison. Ryan Manuella, 30, of Erie County, “moved to a vacant center seat next to a female passenger, who was sitting in a window seat” on the April 16, 2021 flight, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Manuella, who didn't know the woman, then "touched the passenger without her consent," Sellinger said. "The victim then yelled at him and left the row of seats," the U.S. attorney said. Defense attorney Andrew Olesnyck…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Con NJ Bloods Leader Known As 'Hellboy' Gets 10 Years, No Parole, After Undercover PCP Sting Ex-Con NJ Bloods Leader Known As 'Hellboy' Gets 10 Years, No Parole, After Undercover PCP Sting
Ex-Con NJ Bloods Leader Known As 'Hellboy' Gets 10 Years, No Parole, After Undercover PCP Sting UPDATE: The leader of a Bloods subset that ruled some East Orange, Newark and Orange neighborhoods must spend the next 10 years in federal prison after he got stung selling PCP to an undercover agent. Tyree Thomas, 29, of Irvington -- known on the street as “Hellboy” -- had two loaded guns to protect the drugs and proceeds in a stash house that was raided after he repeatedly peddled phencyclidine to the agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Agents seized a 9mm Glock 19 and a .380-caliber Grendel P1O…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: NJ Dad Admits Making, Sharing Child Rape Livestreams, Videos Feds: NJ Dad Admits Making, Sharing Child Rape Livestreams, Videos
Feds: NJ Dad Admits Making, Sharing Child Rape Livestreams, Videos UPDATE: A New Jersey father of three admitted producing and sharing live streams and videos of children being sexually assaulted – some of them by him, federal authorities said. Homeland Security agents seized Antonio Del Prado, 61, during an October 2020 raid of his Millburn home after learning that he’d uploaded some of the images to a cloud, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. These included 56 images and 18 videos of child sexual abuse, according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. A judge kept Del Prado detained, and investigators learned that he'd “had a woma…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Major Trafficker Gets 14 Years, No Parole, For Shipping 40 Pounds Of Heroin From Cali To NJ Major Trafficker Gets 14 Years, No Parole, For Shipping 40 Pounds Of Heroin From Cali To NJ
Major Trafficker Gets 14 Years, No Parole, For Shipping 40 Pounds Of Heroin From Cali To NJ UPDATE: A major drug trafficker from Somerset County who flooded the New Jersey streets with major quantities of heroin -- some of it laced with deadly fentanyl -- must spend a plea-bargained 14 years in federal prison. William T. Bouza, 45, of Watchung, must serve out the entire term handed down by U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The judge also sentenced him to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $25,000 fine. Authorities targeted Bouza in early 2019 after intercepting 33 pounds of heroin stashed…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Tri-State Tour Company Founder Gets 7 Years, No Parole, In Child Porn Case Tri-State Tour Company Founder Gets 7 Years, No Parole, In Child Porn Case
Tri-State Tour Company Founder Gets 7 Years, No Parole, In Child Porn Case A tri-state nature tour company founder from North Jersey was sentenced to a plea-bargained seven years in federal prison for collecting hundreds of child porn images. Vaughn Tiedeman -- whose Living Adventure Tours operates in the Garden State, New York and Pennsylvania -- must serve out the entire term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. He'll also remain under supervised release for 10 years under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark on Thursday, Sept. 21. Special agents of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Inv…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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FEDS: Bergen Doc Admits Buying Cancer Drugs For Multi-Million-Dollar Black Market Resale FEDS: Bergen Doc Admits Buying Cancer Drugs For Multi-Million-Dollar Black Market Resale
Feds: Bergen Doc Admits Buying Cancer Drugs For Multi-Million-Dollar Black Market Resale An Elmwood Park doctor admitted buying discounted prescription drugs used to treat cancer and other diseases so they could be sold for tens of millions of dollars on the black market, federal authorities said. Jon-Paul Dadaian, 53, a board-certified anesthesiologist and pain management specialist from Manhattan, used his medical license to buy the oncology medications under false pretenses "for the purpose of selling them for profit," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He also let others use his license for the same purpose, Sellinger said. All for $130,500, the U.S. attorney said. D…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Drug Mule Caught With 15½ Pounds Of Coke Wrapped In Chocolate At Newark Airport Gets 30 Months Drug Mule Caught With 15½ Pounds Of Coke Wrapped In Chocolate At Newark Airport Gets 30 Months
Drug Mule Caught With 15½ Pounds Of Coke Wrapped In Chocolate At Newark Airport Gets 30 Months UPDATE: A Peruvian woman was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for trying to smuggle nearly 15½ pounds of cocaine hidden in chocolate candy through Newark Airport. Yolanda Fonseca Melgarejo, 60, a legal permanent resident of the United States and a citizen of Peru, was nabbed after flying in from Lima in March 2019. She had seven kilos of coke "concealed within wrapped chocolate candy in her luggage," Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Malgarejo took a deal from the government rather than risk trial, pleading guilty this past June to a single count of importing controlled s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Hudson Ex-Con Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen For Contraband Drone Drops Into Fort Dix Prison Hudson Ex-Con Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen For Contraband Drone Drops Into Fort Dix Prison
Hudson Ex-Con Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen For Contraband Drone Drops Into Fort Dix Prison An ex-con from Hudson County is headed back to the big house for using drones to smuggle tobacco, phone chargers and other contraband into the federal prison at Fort Dix following his release. Jason “Juice” Arteaga-Loayza, 30, of Jersey City must serve out just about all of a plea-bargained 3½ years because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Arteaga-Loayza and three other men had the smuggling operation going for several months before officers at Fort Dix spotted a drone with a dangling fishing line hovering above a housing unit, authorities said. The officers also found a cel…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Man Admits Using Postal Workers, Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks NJ Man Admits Using Postal Workers, Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks
NJ Man Admits Using Postal Workers, Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks A Union County man admitted recruiting postal service employees to steal federal COVID stimulus checks and then paying high school students to help cash them, authorities said. Tashon Ragan, 21, of Hillside was among a group of thieves associated with a group called “The Members” who paid US Postal Service employees in cash to steal credit cards and blank checkbooks from the mail, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. They then “forged the signatures of the accountholders and negotiated the checks by making them payable to individuals,” Honig said. Some were New Jersey high school st…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Convicted Big-Time NJ Ticket Investment Scammer Admits Doing It Again Feds: Convicted Big-Time NJ Ticket Investment Scammer Admits Doing It Again
Feds: Convicted Big-Time NJ Ticket Investment Scammer Admits Doing It Again A Middlesex County man who’d previously been convicted in a ticket resale investment scam admitted in federal court Thursday that he did it again, authorities said. Jeffrey Burd, 61, of Edison, told a U.S. District Court judge during a virtual hearing in Newark that he spent the $447,000 that investors had given him for the purported business on himself. Burd had promised his victims that their money would go toward buying tickets for “high-profile concerts, sporting events, and Broadway shows,” with the profits split between him and them, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachel A. Honig said. Burd “f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme
Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme A former Newark police officer is headed to federal prison for the next nine years for paying kickbacks to a corrupt official for a private security contract. Janell Robinson, 45, of Newark must serve just about all of the entire sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Jurors in U.S. District Court in Newark convicted Robinson last February of conspiring in a massive corruption scheme with Linda Watkins Brashear, the former executive director of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation (NWCDC). The NWCDC provided water to half a million New Jer…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bergen County Con Artist Admits Funding Lavish Lifestyle With $5M Of Other People’s Money Bergen County Con Artist Admits Funding Lavish Lifestyle With $5M Of Other People’s Money
Bergen County Con Artist Admits Funding Lavish Lifestyle With $5M Of Other People’s Money A Bergen County con man admitted duping lenders and corporations out of nearly $5 million that he used to live the high life. Matthew O’Callaghan, 43, of Upper Saddle River told a federal judge in Newark via video conference that he “impersonated two bank executives interested in funding syndicated loans for global companies,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Referring to himself as “Edward Tierney” and “Michael Nash,” O’Callaghan submitted several bogus documents to the victim while using email addresses that appeared legitimate, false email signature blocks for the aliases that bo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes
Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes A Morris County couple who owned and operated construction businesses admitted in federal court in Newark that they stiffed the government out of $261,758 in income tax payments. Roger Magill, 50, of Wharton admitted using a bogus ID to cash checks from Reliable Construction (also known as Reliable Paving) and Hackensack Pavers between 2014 and 2016, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Ruby Magill, also 50, meanwhile, admitted that she helped her husband out by “allowing him to deposit his hidden income into business bank accounts that she operated and controlled,” Carpenito said. U.S. Dis…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Former Tenafly Marble, Granite Company Prez Admits Conning Bank Out Of $17 Million Former Tenafly Marble, Granite Company Prez Admits Conning Bank Out Of $17 Million
Former Tenafly Marble, Granite Company Prez Admits Conning Bank Out Of $17 Million A former marble and granite wholesaler from Tenafly admitted in federal court on Tuesday that he cooked the books, among other deceits, in a $17 million bank fraud. Rajendra Kankariya, 61, pleaded guilty by videoconference via teleconference to his role in the scheme, during which the government said accomplices posed as customers to secure a $17 million line of credit that his company defaulted on. Kankariya was president and part owner of Lotus Exim International Inc. (LEI), which fraudulently got the line of credit and then had it extended by fabricating or inflating many of the accounts…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Union County Woman Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Dealing Pounds Of Meth From JC Storage Unit Union County Woman Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Dealing Pounds Of Meth From JC Storage Unit
Union County Woman Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Dealing Pounds Of Meth From JC Storage Unit A Union County woman was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday for selling meth by the pound from a Jersey City self-storage facility. Lorena Marquez, 48, of Union Township, must serve all of the plea-bargained sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Federal and local authorities investigating drug trafficking in North Jersey seized nearly two pounds of crystal meth from the storage unit and arrested Marquez. She, in turn, pleaded guilty to selling the drug in exchange for leniency. U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Marquez via videoconfe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paterson Man Caught By State Police With $123,255 In Drug Money Gets 3 Years In Fed Pen Paterson Man Caught By State Police With $123,255 In Drug Money Gets 3 Years In Fed Pen
Paterson Man Caught By State Police With $123,255 In Drug Money Gets 3 Years In Fed Pen A Paterson man caught by State Police troopers delivering $123,255 in drug cash will spend the next three years in federal prison before he can be released for his role in a major North Jersey ring. U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Jhensel Jimenez-Taveras, 27, on Thursday to a plea-bargained 37 months, followed by three years of supervised release. He must serve the entire term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Jiminez-Taveras also must forfeit the cash found in his vehicle when NJSP troopers stopped him in April 2019 following a drug deal in Berkeley H…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Convicted 'Bridgegate' Lane-Closure Participant Resentenced To Less Federal Prison Time Convicted 'Bridgegate' Lane-Closure Participant Resentenced To Less Federal Prison Time
Convicted 'Bridgegate' Lane-Closure Participant Resentenced To Less Federal Prison Time A former top Port Authority official had his “Bridgegate” federal prison sentence reduced Tuesday to 18 months from two years. William E. Baroni Jr., 47, who was appointed by then-Gov. Chris Christie, had civil rights convictions tossed by a federal appeals court last September for his role in a political-retribution scheme against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, 46 — formerly deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs in Christie’s office — were each convicted in November 2016 of willfully participating in what became a massive traffic …

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by Jerry DeMarco