Fair 52°
Police & Fire
Disbarred Drug-Dealing Hackensack Lawyer Begins Prison Term Disbarred Drug-Dealing Hackensack Lawyer Begins Prison Term
Disbarred Drug-Dealing Hackensack Lawyer Begins Prison Term A disbarred lawyer from Hackensack with a history of drug-dealing convictions has begun serving a state prison term that won't see him eligible for parole until January 2022. Barry Hoffberg, 51, was sentenced last month to a plea-bargained 12-year maximum term -- with a four-year minimum before parole eligibility -- for operating what authorities said was a booby-trapped drug mill out of his Prospect Avenue apartment. An early January raid there turned up cocaine and marijuana, as well as various tools of distribution -- among them, scales, grinders and sifters -- city police said at the ti…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Rochelle Park PD: Dealer's Phone Blows Up With Drug-Buy Texts At Police HQ Rochelle Park PD: Dealer's Phone Blows Up With Drug-Buy Texts At Police HQ
Rochelle Park PD: Dealer's Phone Blows Up With Drug-Buy Texts At Police HQ ROCHELLE PARK, N.J. -- Her phone buzzed with texts from drug buyers while Rochelle Park police processed a Newark driver who was carrying illegal prescription drugs and $4,555 in suspected proceeds when she was stopped, authorities said. Alisha Gonzalez, 38, was brought to headquarters late Monday after an officer who stopped her 2003 Lexus for moving erratically on Rochelle Avenue found the drugs and cash, Detective Sgt. James DePreta said Tuesday. "She was also believed to be under the influence of drugs," DePreta said. During a consent search of her phone while she was in cust…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Passaic Prosecutor Reviewing All Cases Of Paterson Cops Busted By FBI Passaic Prosecutor Reviewing All Cases Of Paterson Cops Busted By FBI
Passaic Prosecutor Reviewing All Cases Of Paterson Cops Busted By FBI PATERSON, N.J. – Passaic County Prosecutor Camela Valdes said Friday that her office is reviewing all cases involving two Paterson police officers charged by the federal government with pocketing cash and valuables during illegal traffic stops and searches. City Officers Jonathan Bustios and Eudy Ramos “detained the occupants and searched those vehicles without any justification,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said after both were arrested by FBI agents Wednesday on civil rights violations. Bustios -- who prosecutors said took a handgun from a motorist in exchange for lenient treatment -- w…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Passaic Sheriff's Detectives Seize 100+ Bags of Heroin, Other Drugs, $5,340 Passaic Sheriff's Detectives Seize 100+ Bags of Heroin, Other Drugs, $5,340
Passaic Sheriff's Detectives Seize 100+ Bags of Heroin, Other Drugs, $5,340 PATERSON, N.J. -- Passaic sheriff's detectives seized more than 100 bags of heroin, crack, cocaine and pot combined, along with $5,340 in drug proceeds, from an accused dealer, authorities said. A tip led them to Elias Jerez-Inoa, 30, whom they watched leave his 17th Avenue apartment on Friday and get into a silver Honda CRV holding a small plastic bag, Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said. They followed Jerez-Inoa to a 6th Avenue address, where he went into a shed at the back of the driveway and then emerged with the bag, Berdnik said. He pulled away in the Honda, which detectives stopped mome…

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by Jerry DeMarco