FBI Smashes Jersey Shore Gun-Running Ring: Fugitive Brothers Still At Large FBI Smashes Jersey Shore Gun-Running Ring: Fugitive Brothers Still At Large
FBI Smashes Jersey Shore Gun-Running Ring: Fugitive Brothers Still At Large A Monmouth County man and his brother were being sought by federal authorities who charged them and three other people with running guns from Florida to the Jersey Shore. Fugitives Waldin “Manin” Espinosa-Ozoria, 31, of Freehold and Manuel “Chino” Espinosa-Ozoria, 30, of Bartow, FL are charged with conspiring to illegally sell firearms, including handguns and a semi-automatic rifle, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Arrested on similar charges were Enrique “El Enano 13” Quijada, 23, also of Freehold, Javier “Broly” Rodriguez-Valpais, 31, of Morganville, and Jacquelyn Dejesus, 41, also of …
Jersey Shore Ex-Con Admits Stashing Pounds Of Heroin, Coke, Meth, Tech-9 In Storage Facility Jersey Shore Ex-Con Admits Stashing Pounds Of Heroin, Coke, Meth, Tech-9 In Storage Facility
Jersey Shore Ex-Con Admits Stashing Pounds Of Heroin, Coke, Meth, Tech-9 In Storage Facility A Jersey Shore ex-con admitted in federal court that he stashed pounds of heroin, cocaine and meth along with an illegal gun in a storage facility just outside Atlantic City. Joseph Brandenberger, 35, of Absecon was arrested in June 2019 after a warranted search turned up more than a pound each of heroin and cocaine, more than a few ounces of methamphetamine and a 9mm Tech-9 handgun, U.S Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Authorities seized the weapons, drugs, packaging materials and $1,812 in alleged profits, he said. As a convicted felon, Branderberger was prohibited from having a gun, Carpe…
Jersey Shore Therapist Admits Hiring Hitman To Bash In Ex-BF's Face, Make Him 'Not So Cute' Jersey Shore Therapist Admits Hiring Hitman To Bash In Ex-BF's Face, Make Him 'Not So Cute'
Jersey Shore Therapist Admits Hiring Hitman To Bash In Ex-BF's Face, Make Him 'Not So Cute' An Atlantic County therapist admitted in federal court Tuesday that she paid someone she thought was a hit man $4,000 to assault her ex-boyfriend. “He needs his pretty little face bashed in, that’s what I really want,” Diane Sylvia, 60, of Somers Point, told a former mobster who was a patient of hers, the FBI said. The onetime wiseguy went straight to the FBI instead. He introduced Sylvia – then a licensed clinical social worker with a private mental health counseling practice in Linwood -- to an undercover agent posing as an enforcer-for-hire, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. “I reall…
NO PAROLE: Major Trenton Heroin Trafficker Headed To Fed Pen For Plea-Bargained 17 Years NO PAROLE: Major Trenton Heroin Trafficker Headed To Fed Pen For Plea-Bargained 17 Years
NO Parole: Major Trenton Heroin Trafficker Headed To Fed Pen For Plea-Bargained 17 Years A major trafficker who supplied enough heroin to “flood the streets” of Trenton was sentenced to a plea-bargained 17 years in federal prison – all of which he must serve. David Antonio, 32, who was caught with more than three pounds of heroin, admitted being part of a violent, massive distribution network taken down by huge collection of local, county, state and federal law enforcement, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Antonio – also known as “Pop” and “Papi” -- became the 23rd of 26 defendants to take a plea deal in exchange for leniency at sentencing. He and the others must all serve …
Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks
Feds: NJ Crew Used Postal Workers, High School Students To Steal, Forge COVID Stimulus Checks A group of criminals recruited New Jersey postal service employees to steal federal COVID-19 stimulus checks and paid high school students to help cash them, authorities said. The defendants -- who were associates of a group calling itself “the Members” -- recruited U.S. Postal Service employees to steal checks, checkbooks, debit cards, and credit cards from the mail in exchange for cash, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. They then forged the signatures of the account holders and made the checks payable to high school students and others who’d given them access to their accounts, also in …
FBI STING: Ex-Paraguayan Lawmaker, Husband Admit Roles In $2 Million Drug Money Laundering Plot FBI STING: Ex-Paraguayan Lawmaker, Husband Admit Roles In $2 Million Drug Money Laundering Plot
FBI Sting: Ex-Paraguayan Lawmaker, Husband Admit Roles In $2 Million Drug Money Laundering Plot A former member of Paraguay’s Congress thought that she and her husband were laundering $800,000 in drug money when they’d actually been caught in a New Jersey-based FBI sting, federal authorities said. Cynthia Elizabeth Tarragó, 41, also promised the purported drug traffickers that she could get them large quantities of cocaine at a good price, they said. Both Tarragó and her husband, Raimundo Va, 45, took guilty pleas in exchange for leniency at sentencing, admitting in federal court in Trenton this week that they conspired to launder what they believed would be as much $2 million in drug…
Feds: NJ Firm Pays $345G For Short-Changing Foreign Nationals In Trump-Opposed Visa Program Feds: NJ Firm Pays $345G For Short-Changing Foreign Nationals In Trump-Opposed Visa Program
Feds: NJ Firm Pays $345G For Short-Changing Foreign Nationals In Trump-Opposed Visa Program A Middlesex County staffing firm has agreed to pony up $345,000 to settle federal allegations that it underpaid highly-skilled foreign nationals who were brought to the U.S. to work under a special visa program currently under fire from the Trump Administration. Edison-based Savantis Solutions didn’t admit or deny the Justice Department’s allegations, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said. Instead, it agreed to pay back wages and interest to current and former company employees who entered the United States on H-1B visas. Although federal authorities didn’t specify their nation…
Famous Boyz: Federal Prison Time Piles Up For Newark Street Gang That Sold Fentanyl-Laced Smack Famous Boyz: Federal Prison Time Piles Up For Newark Street Gang That Sold Fentanyl-Laced Smack
Famous Boyz: Federal Prison Time Piles Up For Newark Street Gang That Sold Fentanyl-Laced Smack A massive joint investigation continues to produce federal prison sentences for members and associates of a Newark gang that flooded a city neighborhood with fentanyl-laced heroin, committed street robberies and used social media to threaten would-be snitches. The Famous Boyz, a subset of the Brick City Brim set of the Bloods, used juveniles and social media to dominate the drug trade around the area of South 18th Street and 15th Avenue – an area they referred to as “8 Block,” “18th” or simply “8,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Gang members used social media not only to promote their …
BATTLE ENDS: Woodcliff Lake Agrees To Allow Orthodox Worship Center And Pay $1.5 Million BATTLE ENDS: Woodcliff Lake Agrees To Allow Orthodox Worship Center And Pay $1.5 Million
Battle Ends: Woodcliff Lake Agrees To Allow Orthodox Worship Center And Pay $1.5 Million An Orthodox Jewish congregation will be allowed to build a new worship center in Woodcliff Lake under an agreement reached Tuesday, ending a years-long battle that the borough fought with both the religious group and the federal government. Under a pair of the agreements announced Tuesday, the feds and Valley Chabad are both dropping lawsuits against the borough for denying zoning approvals for the property at Werimus Road and Woodcliff Avenue. The borough also will pay Valley Chabad $1.5 million in damages and attorney’s fees resulting from the ordeal, under a separate agreement between th…
Feds Bust Paterson Trio Selling 21,000 Heroin Folds Headed To Vermont Feds Bust Paterson Trio Selling 21,000 Heroin Folds Headed To Vermont
Feds Bust Paterson Trio Selling 21,000 Heroin Folds Headed To Vermont Federal agents busted a Paterson trio who they said trafficked city heroin and fentanyl to Vermont. A U.S. District Court magistrate judge ordered that Nysifah Deaveareaux, 27, and Caron J. Abrams, 26, and Shamir Williams, 25, remain in federal custody while the case proceeds. Federal agents caught Abrams with 200 bricks – more than 9,000 folds – of both heroin and fentayl during what was to be a deal in the parking lot of the Home Depot on Dayton Avenue in Passaic, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. They learned that Williams negotiated the deals, including the transportation by Deaveare…
Feds: Essex OSHA Inspector, Brother Caught On Wire Shaking Down Hudson Job Site Contractor Feds: Essex OSHA Inspector, Brother Caught On Wire Shaking Down Hudson Job Site Contractor
Feds: Essex Osha Inspector, Brother Caught On Wire Shaking Down Hudson Job Site Contractor An OSHA officer from Bloomfield and his brother conspired to extort a general contractor at a North Bergen work site, said federal authorities who tapped one of their meetings. Assigned to investigate the alleged misuse of an extension ladder, Alvaro Idrovo, 44, told the contractor he was violating OSHA regulations for not having the necessary safety training certificates for his workers to be on ladders, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Idrovo told the owner he’d be “subject to exorbitant fines and possible arrest” if he didn’t obtain the certificates, which he said were available throu…
Federal Pen Awaits FBI ‘Most Wanted’ Bergen County Car Dealer Federal Pen Awaits FBI ‘Most Wanted’ Bergen County Car Dealer
Federal Pen Awaits FBI ‘Most Wanted’ Bergen County Car Dealer After several years on the run, former Bergen County luxury car dealer Afzal “Bobby” Khan is facing the music. Khan admitted in federal court last week that he’d defrauded dozens of customers and lenders out of $1.5 million while he was the owner of Emporio Motor Group on Route 17 in Ramsey. The Scottish-born Khan, of Egg Harbor, obtained loans for vehicles that he had no title for — among them, Rolls Royces, Lamborghinis, Porsches — and sold them on consignment without paying the owners, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury had charged. Khan, 38, was on the FBI Newark Field Off…