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Violent Crime Initiative

Police & Fire
Reign Of Terror: NJ Ex-Con Gets 16 Years For Series Of Armed Robberies, Carjackings Reign Of Terror: NJ Ex-Con Gets 16 Years For Series Of Armed Robberies, Carjackings
Reign Of Terror: NJ Ex-Con Gets 16 Years For Series Of Armed Robberies, Carjackings 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A 25-year-old ex-con from Trenton who’s already served 2½ years in state prison is headed to federal prison for 16 more for a string of gunpoint carjackings and robberies. Joshua M. Perez was one of three armed robbers who commited a Oct. 10 carjacking, another on Dec. 5 and the robbery later than second night of a local gas station, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Surveillance cameras captured video of Perez and two other robbers emerging from a sedan, pointing handguns at occupants of another vehicle, Sellinger said. They then fled with money and cellphones in the victims…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Gets 10+ Years, No Early Release NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Gets 10+ Years, No Early Release
NO Choice: Ex-Con Who Shot Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Gets 10+ Years, No Early Release 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: There’s no trying to present a defense in court when the prosecutors have a video of you shooting someone, as well as the loaded gun you were carrying when they arrested you. So Ex-con Antoine Hawkins, 31, of Newark, took a deal from the government and was formally sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on Friday, May 31, for shooting two victims five days apart in the Brick City in August 2020. Hawkins must serve no less than 10 years of his plea-bargained sentence before he'll be eligible for release because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Surveillance video…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea
NO Choice: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea UPDATE: There’s no trying to present a defense in court when the prosecutors have a video of you shooting someone, as well as the loaded gun you were carrying when they arrested you. So ex-con Antoine Hawkins, 31, of Newark, took a deal from the government, admitting in federal court in Newark this week that he shot two victims five days apart in the Brick City in August 2020. Hawkins also pleaded guilty to possessing a 9mm Springfield Armory XDM pistol loaded with 19 rounds and 626 heroin folds for sale when they arrested him a month later, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FBI: Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Guns, Coke, More At Open-Air Brick City Drug Market FBI: Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Guns, Coke, More At Open-Air Brick City Drug Market
FBI: Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Guns, Coke, More At Open-Air Brick City Drug Market Five reputed members and associates of the Sex, Money, Murder gang were charged by federal authorities with peddling fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine at an open-air drug market in Newark. Drugs and loaded guns were seized during the arrests early last month of the quintet, who U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said slung the potentially lethal narcotics from the neighborhood at Kent and Brenner streets. He identified them as Fuquan Williams, 33; Dwight Dixon, 52; Nafee Patterson, 41; Jabriel Mason, 20; and Daqwuan Barkley, 29, all of Essex County. A federal magistrate judge in New…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
GANG WAR: Brick City Teen Seized In Modified Machine-Gun Shooting Of Rival Trio GANG WAR: Brick City Teen Seized In Modified Machine-Gun Shooting Of Rival Trio
Gang WAR: Brick City Teen Seized In Modified Machine-Gun Shooting Of Rival Trio A 19-year-old reputed Newark street gang member wanted for shooting three rivals with a modified machine gun last weekend is in federal custody. Munir “Mu” Muhammad was carrying the converted 9mm handgun when he was arrested on Wednesday, April 12, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. The gun had fired 28 rounds in the April 8 shooting at the Oscar Miles Housing Complex and was fitted with an extended magazine loaded with another 30, Sellinger said Thursday. Three opponents were wounded, one critically, in what the U.S. attorney said is part of a bloody ongoing gun battle between rivals on…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals
Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals A collection of crime-fighting 'supergroups' nailed 42 defendants in a series of pinpointed attacks on organized gangs dealing drugs, packing weapons and waging street warfare in North Jersey, authorities announced. The Violent Crime Initiative, as it's called, targeted what had been thriving criminal organizations in Newark, Paterson and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Shooting incidents statewide and in cities where the VCIs operate are “appreciably lower” than the year-to-date total from last year, including a 23% reduction statewide, a 30% reduction in …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: NJ Drug Dealer Gets 10 Years, No Parole Feds: NJ Drug Dealer Gets 10 Years, No Parole
Feds: NJ Drug Dealer Gets 10 Years, No Parole An admitted drug dealer from Union County is headed to federal prison for 10 years. Tyrell "Hell Rell" Wilson, 36, of Rahway, must serve out just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Wilson was busted in September 2019 with ex-con Marvin "Black Jesus" Lagrier, 39, of Newark. Authorities said they seized cocaine base, heroin, fentanyl, drug-packaging materials, a gun and several rounds of ammunition after searching Wilson's vehicle and a backpack he tossed while trying to flee. They also recovered several Newark Housing Authority uniforms bearin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark
Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Surveillance video shows one of two shootings that federal authorities say were committed by a Newark ex-con who was caught with a loaded gun and 626 heroin folds. The victims were shot five days apart last August by Antoine Hawkins, a 31-year-old repeat offender with an extensive criminal record, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Police nabbed Hawkins a month later and found him carrying a 9mm Springfield Armory XDM pistol loaded with 19 rounds, the U.S. attorney said. A warranted search of his home turned up the heroin, as well as three 9mm magazines, she said. Hawkins, who ha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Reign Of Terror: Feds Charge Ex-Con, 22, In Series Of Armed Carjackings, Robberies In Trenton Reign Of Terror: Feds Charge Ex-Con, 22, In Series Of Armed Carjackings, Robberies In Trenton
Reign Of Terror: Feds Charge Ex-Con, 22, In Series Of Armed Carjackings, Robberies In Trenton A 22-year-old ex-con from Trenton who’s already served 2½ years in state prison could face significantly more federal time if convicted of a string of gunpoint carjackings and robberies. Joshua Perez, 22, was taken into custody after pointing a gun at officers during a raid of his home, authorities said Thursday. Investigators had identified Perez as one of three armed robbers responsible for a Oct. 10 carjacking, another on Dec. 5 and the robbery later than night of a local gas station, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachel A. Honig said. Surveillance cameras captured video of Perez and two other r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
High-Speed Pursuit From PA To NJ: DEA Agent Struck, Dealer Caught With 7,500 Folds, Feds Say High-Speed Pursuit From PA To NJ: DEA Agent Struck, Dealer Caught With 7,500 Folds, Feds Say
High-Speed Pursuit From PA To NJ: DEA Agent Struck, Dealer Caught With 7,500 Folds, Feds Say A fleeing drug dealer hit a DEA agent with his car and tossed a bag filled with 7,500 heroin folds out the window during what became a high-speed chase from Pennsylvania to Mercer County, authorities said. Law enforcement officers from various agencies followed ex-con Daevon Bell, 26, of Hamilton Township from Trenton to an apartment complex in Morrisville, PA, on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Bell retrieved a bag from his trunk and went into one of the apartments there, then emerged carrying another bag, Carpenito said. When members of the law enforcement posse approached h…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held
Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held A judge ordered that a Newark ex-con remain in federal custody after Essex County prosecutor’s detectives said they found a loaded gun in his pocket and 626 heroin folds in his apartment. Antoine Hawkins, a 31-year-old repeat offender with an extensive criminal record, also had three illegal ammunition magazines in his apartment, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Prosecutor’s detectives approached Hawkins earlier this week while investigating a shooting from last month, Carpenito said. As they spoke with him, they noticed “what appeared to be the imprint of a firearm on Hawkins’s jacket,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
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 …

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by Jerry DeMarco