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William J. Martini

Police & Fire
Gunman Gets 8 Years, No Parole, For $35,000 Secaucus Bank Robbery Gunman Gets 8 Years, No Parole, For $35,000 Secaucus Bank Robbery
Gunman Gets 8 Years, No Parole, For $35,000 Secaucus Bank Robbery An out-of-state man who admitted robbing a bank in Secaucus of $35,000 in cash at gunpoint was sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison, authorities said. Jose Luis Martinez, 33, of Iowa, must serve all of the plea-bargained 94-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Martinez was wearing glasses, an Everlast hoodie and two wool caps when he entered the Bank of America branch on Park Plaza Drive on Jan. 5, 2017, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. He pointed a long-barreled gun at a teller and said he'd “shoot her and other customer…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Repeat Child Porn Trafficker From NJ, 65, Gets 10 More Years Without Parole: Feds Repeat Child Porn Trafficker From NJ, 65, Gets 10 More Years Without Parole: Feds
Repeat Child Porn Trafficker From NJ, 65, Gets 10 More Years Without Parole: Feds A 65-year-old convicted child porn trafficker from New Jersey is headed to federal prison for 10 years without parole for going back to it while on supervised release. Hugh Cohen, 65, of Elizabeth, served nearly all of a five-year federal prison sentence for possessing and receiving child pornography in 2010. Supervised release, which was a requirement of his sentence, was to run from the end of October 2014 to the end of October 2021, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. While still on supervised release, from March 28, 2021, to April 24, 2021, Cohen “engaged an undercover agent in an …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Passaic County Man Convicted Of $80,000 Back-To-Back Bank Robberies Passaic County Man Convicted Of $80,000 Back-To-Back Bank Robberies
Passaic County Man Convicted Of $80,000 Back-To-Back Bank Robberies A Passaic County man was convicted by a federal jury of robbing two area banks just weeks apart. Jurors found Jose Soto, 52, of Passaic guilty of robbing a PNC branch in Passaic of $35,000 and a Valley National Bank in Little Falls of $45,000 following a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Newark. They also convicted Soto of conspiring with a Paterson man to commit the holdups and brandishing a firearm. Soto pointed a silver and black gun at customers and employees at the Main Street Valley National branch in Little Falls on Feb. 27, 2020, authorities said. His accomplice, Nicholas Or…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Gang Leader Gets 22 Years Without Parole For Smuggling Heroin, Fentanyl Into NJ Prison Gang Leader Gets 22 Years Without Parole For Smuggling Heroin, Fentanyl Into NJ Prison
Gang Leader Gets 22 Years Without Parole For Smuggling Heroin, Fentanyl Into NJ Prison A Hudson County gang leader must spend the next 22 years in a federal penitentiary for trafficking heroin and fentanyl into a New Jersey state prison. Noel "Kuko" Salgado, 41, was serving time when he had associates on the outside sneak the drugs into Bayside State Prison in Leesburg (Cumberland County), federal authorities said. One inmate who used the smuggled drugs suffered an overdose and was revived with Narcan after remaining senseless for nearly 20 minutes before having to be hospitalized, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Salgado -- who headed the "Loyal Hoody Gang," a l…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
POSTAGE SCAM: Brothers Who Co-Owned Bergen E-Commerce Company Admit Cheating Gov't Out Of $3M POSTAGE SCAM: Brothers Who Co-Owned Bergen E-Commerce Company Admit Cheating Gov't Out Of $3M
Postage Scam: Brothers Who Co-Owned Bergen E-Commerce Company Admit Cheating Gov't Out Of $3M Two brothers who co-owned a Bergen County e-commerce company admitted short-changing the government by more than $3 million in postage by altering hundreds of thousands of labels intended for envelopes and slapping them on outbound packages. Jack Koch, 44, of Elmwood Park, and Steven Koch, 43, of Pompton Lakes, owned Fresh N Clear, a high-volume business that sold various household items online that were shipped o customers via the Postal Service, federal authorities said. Over the course of several months in 2020, the company bought 240,471 USPS Priority Mail postage labels, “almost all fo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Car Thief Admits Selling Stolen Vehicles On Craigslist, Offerup NJ Car Thief Admits Selling Stolen Vehicles On Craigslist, Offerup
NJ Car Thief Admits Selling Stolen Vehicles On Craigslist, Offerup A Belleville man told a federal judge on Thursday that he advertised vehicles for sale on Craigslist and Offerup, then went out and stole them. Eric Morgan, 34, said he photographed particular vehicles and attached a GPS tracker to develop the owner’s “pattern-of-life,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. “The target vehicle was then listed for sale on an internet-based marketplace,” Honig said. “Potential purchasers of the target vehicles responded to listings and scheduled in-person meetings to purchase the vehicles. “Shortly before the scheduled meeting times, the targeted vehic…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: Gunman Admits Intent To ‘Kill Lot Of People’ In Jersey City After Brother Was Shot Dead Feds: Gunman Admits Intent To ‘Kill Lot Of People’ In Jersey City After Brother Was Shot Dead
Feds: Gunman Admits Intent To ‘Kill Lot Of People’ In Jersey City After Brother Was Shot Dead An ex-con bent on avenging his brother’s death admitted he went to Jersey City armed with a semi-automatic handgun intending to “kill a lot of people.” Aware of his plan, police grabbed Raheem Allen, 34, of Newark and seized an Intratec Tec-22 loaded with 25 rounds of ammunition this past March, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Allen’s brother, Anthony Alvarado, 27, was considered a high-ranking member of a Jersey City street gang, Honig said. Alvarado was gunned down in the area of East 49th Street and Avenue E in Bayonne the night of March 6. He was pronounced dead about 45 mi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Broker Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For 'Short Sale' Scam Bergen Broker Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For 'Short Sale' Scam
Bergen Broker Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For 'Short Sale' Scam A Bergen County real estate broker was sentenced to a year and a half in federal prison for his role in a $4.6 million “short-sale” scheme. Steve Young Kang, 66, of Ridgefield, and others sold properties to an accomplice, Mehdi Kassai, for substantially less than they were worth, Acting Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney and Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal said. The conspirators used false documents, straw buyers and cosmetic property damage, while also restricting the ability of others to bid on and buy those properties, Agarwal said. Kassai then “sold many of those propert…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Union County Man Admits Collecting Child Porn Videos Feds: Union County Man Admits Collecting Child Porn Videos
Feds: Union County Man Admits Collecting Child Porn Videos A Union County man caught by federal agents with child porn took a guilty plea Tuesday. Andrew Chu, 30, of Garwood, admitted during a videoconference with a judge in Newark that he downloaded what Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said were 90 videos “depicting the sexual abuse of children” from a dark web site. Chu took a deal from the government rather than go to trial. U.S. District Judge William J. Martini scheduled sentencing on Chu’s plea to possession child pornography for Aug. 26. Honig credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Inv…

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by Jerry DeMarco