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Criminal Justice

Politics
Trump Taps Loyalist Kash Patel As FBI Director Trump Taps Loyalist Kash Patel As FBI Director
Trump Taps Loyalist Kash Patel As FBI Director President-elect Donald Trump announced that 44-year-old loyalist and New York native Kashyap “Kash” Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,  Trump described Patel as a "brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter, in an announcement shared to social media on Sunday, Dec. 1. He praised Patel’s career of “exposing corruption, defending justice, and protecting the American people.” "He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution," Trump sai…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Kids Club Staffer Who Had Sleepovers In NJ With Boy He Raped Sentenced: DA Kids Club Staffer Who Had Sleepovers In NJ With Boy He Raped Sentenced: DA
Kids Club Staffer Who Had Sleepovers In NJ With Boy He Raped Sentenced: DA A former Neshaminy Kids Club worker was sentenced to 35 to 88 years in state prison for sexually assaulting seven boys and filming some of the abuse, Bucks County authorities announced on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. Gerald William Spoto, 42, of Disk Lane in Bristol Township, pleaded guilty in July to nearly three dozen charges for crimes committed between the late 1990s and 2023. He was also declared a sexually violent predator, requiring lifetime sex offender registration and treatment. These assaults of seven boys included "sleepovers" in New Jersey, Detectives with the Middletown Township Pol…

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by Jillian Pikora
Police & Fire
North Jersey Soda Exec Confesses To Sharing Secret Formulas With Competitors, Feds Say North Jersey Soda Exec Confesses To Sharing Secret Formulas With Competitors, Feds Say
North Jersey Soda Exec Confesses To Sharing Secret Formulas With Competitors, Feds Say An executive from North Brunswick admitted to sharing secret soda formulas with his company's competitors, authorities said. Andrew Blum, 63, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Nov. 12 to conspiracy to possess stolen trade secrets and possession of stolen trade secrets, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release. Blum was the vice president of product development for an unnamed North Jersey-based maker of oil products and proprietary flavors from 2013 until Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. The parent corporation of Blum's company was one of the world’s largest produc…

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by Chris Spiker
News
Stuffed Puppy Brings Life Full Circle For PAPD's First Hispanic Female Police Captain Stuffed Puppy Brings Life Full Circle For PAPD's First Hispanic Female Police Captain
Stuffed Puppy Brings Life Full Circle For Papd's First Hispanic Female Police Captain His name is Bingo, and he's so much more than a toy puppy. The stuffed animal was gifted to Priscilla Sanchez when she was 10 by her older brother gifted her the stuffed toy as he prepared for deployment to Iraq. “I held onto that puppy every night," said Sanchez, 33, adding that the puppy became a symbol of her brother's sacrifice. “I knew I wanted to follow the same path.” This year, days before welcoming her third son, Sanchez was promoted to the Port Authority Police Department's first female captain of Hispanic heritage. And this time, Sanchez's sons wer…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Homicide Suspect In Car Full Of Ski-Masked Men Stopped In Morris County, Chief Says Homicide Suspect In Car Full Of Ski-Masked Men Stopped In Morris County, Chief Says
Homicide Suspect In Car Full Of Ski-Masked Men Stopped In Morris County, Chief Says A group of ski-masked men including one homicide suspect are in police custody after officers stopped them and found 25 stolen checks in the vehicle early Friday, Oct. 4 in Morris County, police said. A Florham Park officer stopped the car for traffic violations and noticed all occupants were wearing ski masks and dressed in all black, Florham Park Police Chief Joseph Orlando said. One of the men in the vehicle, age 18, had been wanted for homicide and had been charged as a juvenile in the crime in an adjacent county, the chief said. Daily Voice has reached out to Orlando for details on the…

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by Cecilia Levine
Obituaries
Star NJ Baseball Player Nick Cocchia Dies Suddenly, 25 Star NJ Baseball Player Nick Cocchia Dies Suddenly, 25
Star NJ Baseball Player Nick Cocchia Dies Suddenly, 25 Support is on the rise for the family of former New Jersey high school baseball player Nicholas "Nick" Cocchia, who died suddenly on Monday, Aug. 26, according to his obituary on the Rossi Funeral Home website. He was 25 years old. Nick was raised in Mountainside before moving to Kenilworth with his family, his obituary says. Nick played first base, outfield, and pitched for the varsity baseball team at Governor Livingston High School in Berkley Heights, his obituary says.  He helped lead the team to their victory as state champions in 2015 before playing college baseball for Mont…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
'Sleep With One Eye Open:' Paterson Officer's Charges Detailed In Affidavit 'Sleep With One Eye Open:' Paterson Officer's Charges Detailed In Affidavit
'Sleep With One Eye Open:' Paterson Officer's Charges Detailed In Affidavit More information has come to light in the arrest of a 38-year-old Paterson police officer. Alberto Sanabria was indicted by a grand jury on one count of third-degree terroristic threats, one count of fourth-degree cyber harassment, and one count of fourth-degree stalking, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announced on Monday, Aug. 12. The affidavit for probable cause obtained by Daily Voice says Sanabria sent the following message to his ex-girlfriend: “Hello remember me you got me fired from [redacted]. Just want to let you know I hope you sleep with one eye open from now o…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Phillipsburg Man Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Child: Prosecutor Phillipsburg Man Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Child: Prosecutor
Phillipsburg Man Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Child: Prosecutor A 66-year-old Phillipsburg man was convicted on Thursday, July 25 of sexually assaulting a young child over the course of four years, authorities said. Joseph Gares was convicted of aggravated sexual assault, criminal attempted aggravated sexual assault, four counts of sexual assault, lewdness and endangering the welfare of a child, Acting Warren County Prosecutor Anthony Picione, Acting Chief of Detectives Brenton Warne, and Phillipsburg Police Department Police Chief Robert Stettner said. Gares sexually assaulted a child between 2012 and 2016 when the victim was between the ages of e…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Morris County Man Gets 15 Years For Shooting Wife In Head: Authorities Morris County Man Gets 15 Years For Shooting Wife In Head: Authorities
Morris County Man Gets 15 Years For Shooting Wife In Head: Authorities A 79-year-old East Hanover resident was sentenced to 15 years in jail on Friday, July 12 after pleading guilty to shooting his wife in the head in 2020, authorities said. In March 2020 at 2:02 p.m., East Hanover police were called to a resident on Selmar Terrace on a report of a domestic incident involving a gun, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll, Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, and East Hanover Police Chief Christopher Cannizzo said. An investigation revealed Alexander Jacobs shot his wife Lilia Jacobs, 71, in the head with a loaded .380 Beretta, authorities said. He pl…

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by Sam Barron
News
Bergen County Pastor Repeatedly Performed Sex Acts On Child: Criminal Complaint Bergen County Pastor Repeatedly Performed Sex Acts On Child: Criminal Complaint
Bergen County Pastor Repeatedly Performed Sex Acts On Child: Criminal Complaint A 74-year-old Paramus church pastor has been arrested and charged with 21 counts of sexual offenses for disturbing sexual assaults on a girl between ages 13 and 18 for years, authorities announced Friday, July 12. Stephen E. Sweet, the pastor at Grace's Lutheran Church in River Edge, became the center of an investigation on Thursday, July 11, on a tip that he'd sexually assaulted a juvenile in the past, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. ** WARNING: The following news article contains graphic and disturbing information. Reader discretion is advised ** Sweet sexually assaulted…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
GOT 'IM! Civilian Points Teaneck PD To Elusive Bike-Riding Career Burglar, 40 GOT 'IM! Civilian Points Teaneck PD To Elusive Bike-Riding Career Burglar, 40
GOT 'IM! Civilian Points Teaneck PD To Elusive Bike-Riding Career Burglar, 40 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A 40-year-old career burglar wanted for an ongoing series of break-ins and attempts was captured by Teaneck police with help from a concerned citizen, authorities announced. Aley Beretay ordinarily was on a bicycle when he gave law enforcers the slip a number of times the past week or so. Then, around 9 p.m. Monday, June 10, a township resident walked into headquarters and said she'd just seen a man fitting his description riding a bike along Teaneck Road near Elizabeth Avenue, Police Chief Andrew McGurr said. Detectives who already were working undercover in the area were alerted,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
ATTEMPTED MURDER: Bergen Man Chokes, Tries To Sexually Assault Pre-Teen: Authorities ATTEMPTED MURDER: Bergen Man Chokes, Tries To Sexually Assault Pre-Teen: Authorities
Attempted Murder: Bergen Man Chokes, Tries To Sexually Assault Pre-Teen: Authorities A 33-year-old Ridgefield man choked a Fairview pre-teen “to the point of unconsciousness” and had removed both his and the incapacitated child's clothes before he was stopped, authorities said. Julio Amaro-Vasquez, who lives on Bergen Boulevard just off Oakdene Avenue, was charged with attempted murder, attempted aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault, attempted sexual assault by contact and child endangerment. He wasn't the only person arrested in connection with the alleged incident, however. Amaro-Vasquez's girlfriend, Marlin Cervantes Santos, 30, of Fairview, “directed…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Twin Rutgers Grads, 23, Killed In Crash Were Each Other's Closest Friends, Obituaries Say Twin Rutgers Grads, 23, Killed In Crash Were Each Other's Closest Friends, Obituaries Say
Twin Rutgers Grads, 23, Killed In Crash Were Each Other's Closest Friends, Obituaries Say Services have been finalized for a pair of 23-year-old twin brothers killed in a Vineland crash. John and Patrick Mahoney, both of Washington Township, died in a collision on Tuesday, June 4 at Union and Mays Landing Roads, as previously reported by Daily Voice.  Police said John was driving a Toyota Yaris when he failed to yield to a Ford F-250 operated by an 81-year-old, which caused the crash. The Yaris driver was hospitalized as a precaution. Obituaries on the Egizi Funeral Home website for John and Patrick remember the two as being each other's closest friends and greatest advoca…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA Sentenced Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA Sentenced
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA Sentenced 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A member of a burglary ring that specifically targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware was sentenced to a plea-bargained 33 months in federal prison. James Hurt, 48, of New York, and other members of the second-story crew worked from what the FBI called a hit list of dozens of homes in the four states based on “stereotype and opportunity" from Dec. 2, 2016, to March 20, 2019. The burglars often got into homes through unsecured upper-floor windows before seeking out cash, jewelry and guns, the FBI said In one instance, th…

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by Jerry DeMarco