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Police & Fire
FBI STING: Ex-Paraguayan Lawmaker, Husband Admit Roles In $2 Million Drug Money Laundering Plot FBI STING: Ex-Paraguayan Lawmaker, Husband Admit Roles In $2 Million Drug Money Laundering Plot
FBI Sting: Ex-Paraguayan Lawmaker, Husband Admit Roles In $2 Million Drug Money Laundering Plot A former member of Paraguay’s Congress thought that she and her husband were laundering $800,000 in drug money when they’d actually been caught in a New Jersey-based FBI sting, federal authorities said. Cynthia Elizabeth Tarragó, 41, also promised the purported drug traffickers that she could get them large quantities of cocaine at a good price, they said. Both Tarragó and her husband, Raimundo Va, 45, took guilty pleas in exchange for leniency at sentencing, admitting in federal court in Trenton this week that they conspired to launder what they believed would be as much $2 million in drug…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Harlem Medical Assistant Charged In Fort Lee Hit-Run That Seriously Injured Pedestrian, 23 Harlem Medical Assistant Charged In Fort Lee Hit-Run That Seriously Injured Pedestrian, 23
Harlem Medical Assistant Charged In Fort Lee Hit-Run That Seriously Injured Pedestrian, 23 A medical assistant from Harlem sped off after she struck and seriously injured a man with her car in broad daylight near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee last month, said authorities who arrested and charged her. Fatou Diaby, 25, stopped at first and got out of her Honda Accord after she hit the 23-year-old victim at the intersection of Hudson Terrace and Myrtle Avenue shortly before 12:30 p.m. June 8, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Monday. She then "got back in her vehicle and left the scene prior to police arrival," he said. The victim was taken to Hackensack Univers…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Parking Authority Employee Admits Selling Drugs, Having Guns On Duty Newark Parking Authority Employee Admits Selling Drugs, Having Guns On Duty
Newark Parking Authority Employee Admits Selling Drugs, Having Guns On Duty A Newark Parking Authority employee who already had a criminal record admitted Wednesday in federal court that he supplemented his income selling heroin and crack and dealing in guns, authorities said. FBI agents arrested Aughkay “Kay Boogie” Green, 49, after he sold nearly three ounces combined of heroin and crack in separate deals, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Green also got a cut of $1,360 that an associate made selling two Smith and Wesson handguns – one a .44-caliber Model 21, the other a .38-caliber Model 15, along with 50 rounds of hollow-point .44-caliber ammo -- in exchange …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters
Former Gottheimer Aide Admits Forging Congressional Letters A now-former aide to New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer admitted using the U.S. House of Representatives seal to falsify letters written on the federal lawmaker’s letterhead. Patrick Sheehan, 29, of West Milford, was working as director of community outreach in Gottheimer’s Sussex County office in Newton when he “falsified and mailed” a series of letters that purported to be from another staffer containing false information about the congressman and that employee, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said following Friday's guilty plea. Sheehan then “falsified multiple copies of a letter on [G…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Driver Gets 10 Years For Fatal Route 80 Paramus School Bus Crash Driver Gets 10 Years For Fatal Route 80 Paramus School Bus Crash
Driver Gets 10 Years For Fatal Route 80 Paramus School Bus Crash A former school bus driver was sentenced to a plea-bargained 10 years in prison Wednesday for causing a crash that killed a Paramus teacher and student in 2018 on Route 80 in Morris County. Hudy Muldrow, 79, formerly a bus driver for the Paramus School District, must serve at least five years and nine months before he is eligible for parole, under the terms of his plea agreement with Morris County prosecutors. Muldrow of Newark was behind the wheel of a bus carrying more than 40 people when he made an illegal U-turn on Route 80 in Mount Olive Township and crashed into a dump truck -- killi…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Jersey City Man Convicted Of Fatally Shooting City Resident, 33 Jersey City Man Convicted Of Fatally Shooting City Resident, 33
Jersey City Man Convicted Of Fatally Shooting City Resident, 33 Jurors in Hudson County found a 27-year-old Jersey City man guilty of fatally shooting of another city resident in 2018. A Superior Court judge scheduled a May 15 sentencing for Michael Weathersbee, who was convicted of murder and related weapons offenses in the shooting death of Laquan Clark, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said Monday. Police responding to reports of a shooting found Clark, 33, sitting in a car on New Street with multiple gunshot wounds around 2:10 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2018, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Clark was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, wh…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Prison Time Added For Hunterdon Man Who Pressed Victim's Mom To Drop Child Sex Assault Charges Prison Time Added For Hunterdon Man Who Pressed Victim's Mom To Drop Child Sex Assault Charges
Prison Time Added For Hunterdon Man Who Pressed Victim's Mom To Drop Child Sex Assault Charges A Hunterdon County man who admitted sexually assaulting a pre-teen had prison time added to his sentence for trying to convince the victim's mother to drop the charges, authorities said. Carlos Zacarias, 51, of Flemington received a 10-year state prison sentence last Friday in exchange for a guilty plea last September to sexually assaulting a minor, Hunterdon County Acting Prosecutor Michael J. Williams said. Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski tacked on 18 months for contempt of court, Williams said. Zacarias was arrested in June 2018 following a joint investigation by the Hunterdo…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Crooked Paterson Utilities Commissioner Sentenced To 35 Months In Fed Pen Crooked Paterson Utilities Commissioner Sentenced To 35 Months In Fed Pen
Crooked Paterson Utilities Commissioner Sentenced To 35 Months In Fed Pen A former commissioner with the now-defunct Paterson Municipal Utilities Authority is headed to federal prison for nearly three years for a pair of kickback schemes. Erik Lowe, 51, of Paterson, previously pleaded guilty in exchange for leniency at Monday’s sentencing in U.S. District Court in Newark. He must serve just about all of the term because they’re no parole in the federal prison system. Lowe admitted conspiring with contractor Carnell Baskerville, who was sentenced two years ago to a plea-bargained 21 months in federal prison for his role in the scheme, U.S. Attorney Craig Carp…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Judge Denies Bid By Cocaine-Buying Ex-Palisades Parkway Police Chief To End His Probation Judge Denies Bid By Cocaine-Buying Ex-Palisades Parkway Police Chief To End His Probation
Judge Denies Bid By Cocaine-Buying Ex-Palisades Parkway Police Chief To End His Probation A disgraced former Palisades Interstate Parkway Police chief who avoided prison after he was caught buying cocaine online lost a bid Friday to have his one-year probation cut in half. An attorney for Michael Coppola told a state judge in Hackensack that his client needs to be able to freely go to and from his Ohio-based job and out-of-state interviews without court-ordered restrictions. Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor James Santulli countered that the remaining six months of probation were necessary for Coppola’s drug treatment. Superior Court Judge Margaret Foti agreed. One year was a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Midland Park Mailman Gets 364 Nights In County Jail In Ridgewood Hit-Run Death Midland Park Mailman Gets 364 Nights In County Jail In Ridgewood Hit-Run Death
Midland Park Mailman Gets 364 Nights In County Jail In Ridgewood Hit-Run Death UPDATE: Thanks to a plea deal, a postal carrier from Midland Park who fled the scene after striking and killing a Hawthorne man in Ridgewood won’t be going to state prison for his crime. A judge in Hackensack on Friday allowed Rafael Ramos, 48, to keep his job during the day while serving 364 consecutive nights in the Bergen County Jail as his plea-bargained sentence for the hit-and-run death of Edward Rao. Ramos was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident after running over and killing Rao, a 54-year-old former Ridgewood real estate agent, on West Ridgewood Avenue near the vill…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Owner Of Berkeley Heights Shelter Lied About Dogs' Illnesses, Prosecutor Says Owner Of Berkeley Heights Shelter Lied About Dogs' Illnesses, Prosecutor Says
Owner Of Berkeley Heights Shelter Lied About Dogs' Illnesses, Prosecutor Says A Warren woman who owns an animal shelter in Berkeley Heights has been accused of falsifying records in an attempt to conceal negative information about the health of dogs from prospective adopters.  The Union County Prosecutor's Office said Friday that 55-year-old Toni Turco, who operates Home for Good Dog Rescue,  has been charged with with 15 counts of fourth-degree falsifying records for the purpose of deceiving prospective pet owners, two counts of fourth-degree knowingly selling and/or exposing to human contact a pet with a contagious or infectious disease, and…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Federal Judge Orders Pawn Shop Owner Tied To Jersey City Shooters Held 'Till Bail Hearing Federal Judge Orders Pawn Shop Owner Tied To Jersey City Shooters Held 'Till Bail Hearing
Federal Judge Orders Pawn Shop Owner Tied To Jersey City Shooters Held 'Till Bail Hearing UPDATE: A pawn shop owner arrested in connection with last week's shootout in Jersey City remained in federal custody following a brief appearance Monday in Newark. A U.S. District Court judge scheduled a bail hearing at 11 a.m. Wednesday for Ahmed A-Hady, 35, of Keyport, who's charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The judge also ordered that A-Hady remain held until then. A handwritten note found in the pocket of one of the two dead Jersey City shooters led investigators to A-Hady and what the government says were three AR-15-style assault rifles, among 13 weapon…

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by Jerry DeMarco