Overcast 55°
Tag:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Newark Field Division

Police & Fire
ARMED ROBBERY RAMPAGE: 3rd NJ Man Named In Violent Holdups ARMED ROBBERY RAMPAGE: 3rd NJ Man Named In Violent Holdups
Armed Robbery Rampage: 3rd NJ Man Named In Violent Holdups A third man who authorities said was involved in a terrifying string of armed robberies in Passaic County has been identified. Kareem Powell, 30, of Willingboro, was arrested by federal agents on Tuesday, Nov. 21, in connection with the August 2022 holdups, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on Wednesday. He joins Carlos Diaz and Edward Porter, both 30 of Paterson, who’ve been in federal custody since last December. A new indictment names Powell while boosting the charges against the other two. The masked trio menaced customers with semiautomatic handguns -- ordering them to lie …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Admitted Homemade Bomb Maker From South Jersey Gets 2 Years, No Parole UPDATE: Admitted Homemade Bomb Maker From South Jersey Gets 2 Years, No Parole
Update: Admitted Homemade Bomb Maker From South Jersey Gets 2 Years, No Parole A South Jersey man whom federal authorities said they caught with a do-it-yourself bomb and the materials to make it was sentenced to two years in prison without parole. Thomas Petronglo, 64, had a 5¾-inch diameter metal can filled with potassium perchlorate and aluminum with a fuse sticking out when authorities raided his Vineland home in March 2021, according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Camden. The mixture is commonly used in commercial fireworks displays. Authorities seized several other improvised devices -- mostly plastic cylinders and cardboard tubes containing "…

SHARE

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…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ex-Con Fugitive From NJ Caught With Guns, Drugs, Ammo Faces Lengthy Federal Prison Stretch Ex-Con Fugitive From NJ Caught With Guns, Drugs, Ammo Faces Lengthy Federal Prison Stretch
Ex-Con Fugitive From NJ Caught With Guns, Drugs, Ammo Faces Lengthy Federal Prison Stretch Cedric Lewis had been out of state prison all of two months when detectives from the Essex County Sheriff's Office learned that he'd armed himself with a rifle, two pistols and a pair of extended magazines while selling heroin and cocaine. With the heat on, the Bloomfield ex-con headed south. Three months later, deputy U.S. marshals in Atlanta had him in custody. Lewis, 29, will be headed to federal prison for a much longer stretch than before after taking a deal from the government. Lewis pleaded guilty via videoconference with a federal judge in Newark on Thursday, July 28,  to two …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: NJ Man Admits He Ran Guns From Georgia With Online Dating Match Feds: NJ Man Admits He Ran Guns From Georgia With Online Dating Match
Feds: NJ Man Admits He Ran Guns From Georgia With Online Dating Match An ex-con from New Jersey most likely didn't list "gun running" among his hobbies when he made an online love connection with a Southern woman. It'll be quite some time before Dylan Ianncelli, 28, of Gloucester County dates again -- either online or off -- after admitting in federal court on Wednesday, March 9, that he and his Georgia peach trafficked nearly a dozen firearms into New Jersey. Ianncelli went down to Georgia after meeting Jessy Hill, who authorities said bought 11 guns from a licensed dealer on Aug. 12, 2021. Hill "falsely indicated during the purchase that she was the actual…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Meth & Cocaine, Guns, Thousands In Cash Seized In Major Takedown Of NJ Drug Ring Meth & Cocaine, Guns, Thousands In Cash Seized In Major Takedown Of NJ Drug Ring
Meth & Cocaine, Guns, Thousands In Cash Seized In Major Takedown Of NJ Drug Ring A seven-month-long investigation led to nearly two dozen arrests and the seizure of several pounds of drugs, firearms, ammunition, drug money and more, authorities in Central Jersey announced. "Operation Fire and Ice" — launched under the direction of Acting Somerset County Prosecutor Thomas J. Chirichella Jr., and multiple federal law enforcement agencies — targeted a crystal meth, cocaine and firearms distribution ring, Chirichella's office said on Monday, March 7. Twenty search warrants were executed at the homes of Jeffrey Cope, Shayne Murdock, Jermaine Lloyd, Jason Fort, David Nin…

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
News
Jersey City Five Charged With Murder Of Rival Gang Member, Innocent Girl, 17 Jersey City Five Charged With Murder Of Rival Gang Member, Innocent Girl, 17
Jersey City Five Charged With Murder Of Rival Gang Member, Innocent Girl, 17 Five reputed members of a Jersey City street gang were charged federally with murder in the shooting deaths the same week of a rival and a 17-year-old female bystander. Shaquan "Nut" Rush and Darby "GoHard" Shirden, both 21, and Jeremy "Smoov" Perez, 23, opened fire on a group of people outside the Salem Lafayette Apartments on April 1, 2020 in retaliation for the killing the day before of a high-ranking member of their Rutgers Avenue gang, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Two people were wounded, one of them an 18-year-old associate of the Salem Lafayette gang who survived the shoo…

SHARE

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…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
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…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: South Jersey Gym Bomber Had Body Armor, Rifle, Lots Of Explosive Materials, Instructions Feds: South Jersey Gym Bomber Had Body Armor, Rifle, Lots Of Explosive Materials, Instructions
Feds: South Jersey Gym Bomber Had Body Armor, Rifle, Lots Of Explosive Materials, Instructions A South Jersey man charged with setting off a bomb outside a nearby gym last month had a "substantial" amount of bomb-making materials along with instructions, body-armored tactical vests and more, federal authorities said Friday. Surveillance video shows Dwayne A. Vandergrift Jr., 35, placing an explosive device on the front door of GCity Crossfit Gym near his home in Gloucester City and running away around 4 a.m. Aug. 26, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The bomb detonated, knocking out the front door and shattering its glass, Carpenito said. Federal and local law enforcement officers…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco