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Police & Fire
Feds: Digital Fingerprints Lead NJ Agents To Convicted Sex Offender's Child Porn Collection Feds: Digital Fingerprints Lead NJ Agents To Convicted Sex Offender's Child Porn Collection
Feds: Digital Fingerprints Lead NJ Agents To Convicted Sex Offender's Child Porn Collection Federal agents working a child porn investigation traced digital fingerprints to a convicted sex offender living in Union County who was downloading more horrifying illegal images when they came busting in, authorities said. Matthew T. Williams, 43, was seized during a raid of his Westfield apartment on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Homeland Security Investigations agents from Newark reported more than 40 child sexual abuse videos found on a drive attached to Williams's computer that was pulling more from the Internet when they arrived. Williams was living in New York State when he was previously con…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
3-Year-Old Found Safe In Jersey City After AMBER Alert Issued Out of Newark (PHOTOS) 3-Year-Old Found Safe In Jersey City After AMBER Alert Issued Out of Newark (PHOTOS)
3-Year-Old Found Safe In Jersey City After Amber Alert Issued Out of Newark (Photos) A 3-year-old was found unharmed in Jersey City after an AMBER alert was issued out of Newark on Tuesday, Oct. 31. At 8:15 a.m., police responded to the 100 block of Wilson Avenue after a vehicle was carjacked with the child left inside, Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé said.  At 10:30 a.m., police found the vehicle in Jersey City with the child inside and unharmed, Fragé said. The incident remains under investigation. 

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Feds Finally Get Justice In Re-Sentencings Of NJ Army Major, Wife Who Abused 5 Kids Feds Finally Get Justice In Re-Sentencings Of NJ Army Major, Wife Who Abused 5 Kids
Feds Finally Get Justice In Re-Sentencings Of NJ Army Major, Wife Who Abused 5 Kids UPDATE: It took federal authorities three tries over more than eight years, but they finally got to see the punishment fit the crimes when a judge sentenced a Morris County couple who severely abused their children to extended prison terms. The sentences imposed in federal court in Newark on Monday, Oct. 30, "hold Carolyn Jackson and John Jackson accountable for their horrific crimes, and bring a measure of justice for their victims,” said U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger (photo above, left). Carolyn Jackson, 46, was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison. John E.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SWAT Raid Turns Up Heroin, Meth, Ammo; 4 Arrested In Ocean County: Prosecutor SWAT Raid Turns Up Heroin, Meth, Ammo; 4 Arrested In Ocean County: Prosecutor
SWAT Raid Turns Up Heroin, Meth, Ammo; 4 Arrested In Ocean County: Prosecutor The raid of an Ocean County home turned up heroin, methamphetamine and ammunition, leading to the arrest of four people, authorities said. This investigation identified a residence in Berkeley Township as being utilized by Anthony Isola, 49, of Bayville, to store and sell drugs, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Based upon reliable information received, Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force and Berkeley Township Police Department initiated surveillance on the subject residence in Bayville on Tuesday, Oct. 24. That's when…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Online NJ Romance Scammer Who Conned Woman Out Of $66,000 Gets More Than Two Years, No Parole Online NJ Romance Scammer Who Conned Woman Out Of $66,000 Gets More Than Two Years, No Parole
Online NJ Romance Scammer Who Conned Woman Out Of $66,000 Gets More Than Two Years, No Parole An Essex County man who helped swindle what he called a “filthy rich woman” out of nearly $66,000 in an online romance scam was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. Mahmoud Bowler, 40, of Newark, and an unidentified co-conspirator whom he grew up with in Ghana double-teamed the Florida victim over the course of nearly three years after connecting with her on an online dating site using a bogus profile name. Bowler then turned around and screwed his partner, keeping the majority of the money that they'd collected from the victim, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Phillip R. Sellinger said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Three-Time NJ Bank Robber Who Held Up Cellphone Store After Release Gets 27½ Years This Time Three-Time NJ Bank Robber Who Held Up Cellphone Store After Release Gets 27½ Years This Time
Three-Time NJ Bank Robber Who Held Up Cellphone Store After Release Gets 27½ Years This Time An ex-con from Essex County who robbed an East Orange cellphone store after he'd just served 13½ years for holding up banks in Fair Lawn, Clifton and Belleville is headed back to federal prison for more than twice as much time. Kenneth Graham, who has diabetes, received a “compassionate release” into home confinement in November 2020 after serving 13½ years of a 17-year sentence for the trio of bank holdups. Graham, 50, of Newark, had been free all of two months, authorities said, when he walked into a Boost Mobile store in downtown East Orange and announced a robbery in the middle of the a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Predator Admits Getting Underage Girl To Share Nudes NJ Predator Admits Getting Underage Girl To Share Nudes
NJ Predator Admits Getting Underage Girl To Share Nudes A New Jersey man admitted posing as someone else to get a minor to pose naked online for him. Federal authorities had charged Sunil Vaid, 51, of North Brunswick with posing online as various people, including a man seeking romance, a woman offering career help and a personal trainer to meet underage victims. Rather than risk the outcome of a trial, Vaid took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Newark to inducing one of them to engage in cybersex, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi scheduled sentencing for Feb…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ring Member Admits Snatching $1.5M Worth Of High-End Vehicles In NJ, Rockland, CT, Long Island Ring Member Admits Snatching $1.5M Worth Of High-End Vehicles In NJ, Rockland, CT, Long Island
Ring Member Admits Snatching $1.5M Worth Of High-End Vehicles In NJ, Rockland, CT, Long Island The last of four men caught stealing more than $1.5 million worth of luxury cars in New Jersey, Rockland County, Long Island and Connecticut took a guilty plea on Thursday, federal authorities announced. Like his pals, Malik Baker, 29, of Vauxhall, NJ, took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in federal court in Newark on Oct. 19 to conspiring to transport stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and receiving a stolen vehicle that had crossed state lines after being stolen. U.S. District Judge Esther Salas scheduled Baker's sentencing for March 7, 2024. Baker had remained on the sid…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme
Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme A New Jersey real estate investor and influencer who's business partners with Power 105.1 DJ Envy was seized early Wednesday by federal agents who charged him with orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like investment scheme. Promising returns that were too good to be true, Cesar Humberto Piña "exploited celebrity status and social media" to scam dozens of people out of millions of dollars, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Oct. 18. Piña, 45, who lives in the suburban Bergen County town of Franklin Lakes, craftily "developed a devoted following" whom he then victi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Propane To Blame In NJ House Explosion That Injured 5, One Critically, Fire Marshal Says Propane To Blame In NJ House Explosion That Injured 5, One Critically, Fire Marshal Says
Propane To Blame In NJ House Explosion That Injured 5, One Critically, Fire Marshal Says UPDATE: A house explosion last month in West Milford that sent five people to the hospital – one of whom remains in critical condition – apparently was due to a propane leak, the township’s fire marshal said. The other four victims injured when the home in the Upper Greenwood Lake section exploded and collapsed on Sept. 22 have since been released from the hospital, Fire Marshal Michael Moscatello said on Friday, Oct. 13. The fifth remains in the burn unit at the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, he said. Everyone feared the worst at the time. The first unit at the scene, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paterson Pair Convicted In Ambush Killing Of Rival Gang Member From Newark Paterson Pair Convicted In Ambush Killing Of Rival Gang Member From Newark
Paterson Pair Convicted In Ambush Killing Of Rival Gang Member From Newark UPDATE: The mastermind behind the cold-blooded killing of a 21-year-old rival gang member from Newark during an ambush in Paterson was convicted of first-degree murder and one of his cronies of aggravated manslaughter on Friday. Jurors in Superior Court in Paterson needed only a day to reach guilty verdicts on Oct. 13 against Silk City residents Jaquan Thomas, 33, and Ismael Leon, 21, for gunning down Jose Figueroa. Authorities said the slaying was a “coordinated attack involving multiple shooters in multiple locations.” Thomas sent members of his gang to the area of Totowa and Redwood ave…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Ex-Con Gets 19 Years, No Parole, On Federal Gun, Drug Convictions Newark Ex-Con Gets 19 Years, No Parole, On Federal Gun, Drug Convictions
Newark Ex-Con Gets 19 Years, No Parole, On Federal Gun, Drug Convictions An ex-con from Newark was sentenced to 228 months in federal prison for trafficking cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl while carrying a loaded gun. Ricky Hubbard, 46, was convicted by jurors in U.S. District Court in March. He'll have to serve out the entire 19-year term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Hubbard was talking on a cellphone when Union Township police stopped him in a 2012 Kia Sedona with tinted windows in the eastbound lanes of Route 22 near Ball Avenue on Nov. 6, 2019, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. They immediately smelled pot while noticing a b…

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by Jerry DeMarco