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NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ A dealer who admitted flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke is headed to federal prison for more than a decade. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, of Manhattan must serve out just about all of his plea-bargained 11-year sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Moreno and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Authorities disco…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
$70K Fraud Scheme Racks Up Charges For Hudson County Woman: Prosecutor $70K Fraud Scheme Racks Up Charges For Hudson County Woman: Prosecutor
$70K Fraud Scheme Racks Up Charges For Hudson County Woman: Prosecutor A 47-year-old Hudson County woman was arrested in a $70,000 healthcare fraud scheme, authorities said. Nicole Saunders, of Union City, failed to report income from a business she owns, resulting in an unlawful payment of more than $70,000 in medical benefits from NJ FamilyCare between 2017 and 2021, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Saunders was arrested Tuesday, July 25, by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Insurance Fraud Unit. She was charged with theft by deception and false reporting to Medicaid. Saunders was released on a summons pending her&n…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
$74K Worth Of Fentanyl, Cocaine: Four Busted In Secaucus $74K Worth Of Fentanyl, Cocaine: Four Busted In Secaucus
$74K Worth Of Fentanyl, Cocaine: Four Busted In Secaucus Four people were arrested in Secaucus on Wednesday, July 19 and found with $74,000 worth of fentanyl and cocaine, authorities said. Franklin Rodriguez-Liberto, a 40-year-old Jersey City resident, Richard Pena-Rodriguez, a 37-year-old Union City resident, Steven Reyes, a 44-year-old North Bergen resident and Christopher Delacruz, a 24-year-old New York resident, were arrested, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. The arrests come following an investigation that spanned April to July in which $65,000 worth of cocaine and $9,000 worth of fentanyl were seized,  The four were …

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Officers Hospitalized Breaking Up Fight At Hudson County Bar Officers Hospitalized Breaking Up Fight At Hudson County Bar
Officers Hospitalized Breaking Up Fight At Hudson County Bar Two people were arrested and three police officers were hospitalized while breaking up a fight at a Hudson County bar, authorities said. Jersey City's Luis M. Baca-Turcios, 34, and Union City's Napoleon Anduray-Romero, 29, were each charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, and more, in connection with the incident early Monday, July 17, in Guttenberg, police said. Baca-Turcios was also charged with a weapons offense in the 1:30 a.m. incident at the M Bar and Restaurant, Guttenberg Police Capt. Aleksander Ramadanovic said. Police were called to th…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Mother, Son Charged In Fatal Union City Car Crash: Prosecutors Mother, Son Charged In Fatal Union City Car Crash: Prosecutors
Mother, Son Charged In Fatal Union City Car Crash: Prosecutors A 37-year-old mother and her 16-year-old son, both Union City residents, were charged in connection with a fatal collision in Union City that killed a 73-year-old DPW employee on Monday, June 5, authorities said. Fortunato Rojas-Solis died after being struck by a Dodge Durango driven by the 16-year-old, who did not have a license, in the area of Palisade Avenue and 36th Street, while he was on the job, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. The 16-year-old was charged as a juvenile with knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision and causing death while driving unlicensed…

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by Sam Barron
Weather
These Maps Show Realtime Smoke, Air Quality As Canadian Wildfires Rage These Maps Show Realtime Smoke, Air Quality As Canadian Wildfires Rage
These Maps Show Realtime Smoke, Air Quality As Canadian Wildfires Rage Can't tell if it's smoke or cloudy skies above? The following realtime configurations and air quality maps won't have you guessing anymore. A realtime configuration from Fire Smoke Canada — the Canadian portal for information about wildland fire weather and smoke — shows exactly where each of the more than 150 wildfires are raging and predicts roughly how heavy the smoke will be and where. The New York Times, meanwhile, has a similar smoke forecast map that indicates light, medium, or high levels of smoke from the fires, based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The rea…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Hudson Sheriff's Officer Busted With Child Porn: Prosecutor Hudson Sheriff's Officer Busted With Child Porn: Prosecutor
Hudson Sheriff's Officer Busted With Child Porn: Prosecutor A Hudson County Sheriff's Officer was arrested on child porn charges, authorities said. William Medina arrested and charged with possessing child sex abuse material on Thursday, June 8, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. The 35-year-old Union City resident was arrested at the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office in Jersey City following a months-long investigation, Suarez said.  Medina was released pending his first court appearance, which is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, June 29, Suarez said.  Following his arrest, Medina was placed on administrative leave and…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Union City DPW Employee Fatally Struck By Vehicle While On Job: Prosecutors Union City DPW Employee Fatally Struck By Vehicle While On Job: Prosecutors
Union City DPW Employee Fatally Struck By Vehicle While On Job: Prosecutors A 73-year-old Union City man was killed while on the job after he was struck by a vehicle on the morning of Monday, June 5, while working for the Department of Public Works, authorities said. Fortunato Rojas-Solis was struck in the area of Palisade Avenue and 36th Street, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Police transported him to Jersey City Medical Center where he was pronounced dead later that afternoon, Suarez said. Rojas-Solis was hit by a Dodge Durango driven by a 16-year-old Union City teenage boy, Suarez said. The Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and t…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Fairview Detectives Nab Habitual Criminal In Spree Of Smash-And-Grabs GOTCHA! Fairview Detectives Nab Habitual Criminal In Spree Of Smash-And-Grabs
Gotcha! Fairview Detectives Nab Habitual Criminal In Spree Of Smash-And-Grabs Fairview detectives cracked a string of smash-and-grab business burglaries after a local career criminal had a blowup with a woman over his drug use, authorities said. The phrase “known to police” was coined for offenders like Andrew Stanganelli, 32, who has a drug-related arrest record in both North Jersey and New York City that stretches back more than a decade. So it’s no surprise that he’d be on the list of usual suspects following last fall’s burglary spree. It began shortly after midnight Nov. 7 when an intruder forced open the front door of Romo Dry Cleaners on Fairview Avenue, sla…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Accused $550,000 Mortgage Fraud Schemer From Bergen Already Had A History, Records Show Accused $550,000 Mortgage Fraud Schemer From Bergen Already Had A History, Records Show
Accused $550,000 Mortgage Fraud Schemer From Bergen Already Had A History, Records Show Gerrmaioud Chape was no stranger to police and prosecutors in Bergen County. So it wasn’t surprising to some when county prosecutors charged him with stealing $525,000 from unwitting investors through mortgage fraud. Chape, 43, already had a petty criminal history that included arrests for speeding, shoplifting and drugs when Bogota police charged him in 2015 with pocketing $40,000 that a Colombian brother and sister saved to come to America. The money was supposed to be a down payment on a mortgage for the siblings’ new home, authorities said at the time, but Chape used it instead on pers…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court
Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court Michael Noriega, a Union County resident, has been nominated to be the newest justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Gov. Phil Murphy formally announced Noriega's nomination on Monday, May 15. Noriega, who was born in Weehawken, will be replacing Justice Barry Albin, who reached the mandatory retirement age. Noriega, who was raised in Union City and lives in Fanwood, is Murphy's fourth appointment to the bench. Noriega, 45, is a partner at Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold, and Mangan, based in Clifton, working as a defense and immigration attorney. Noriega also spent five years as…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Duo Stole $300K From Union City Business: Prosecutor Duo Stole $300K From Union City Business: Prosecutor
Duo Stole $300K From Union City Business: Prosecutor Two North Bergen residents were arrested and charged with stealing more than $300,000 from a Union City business, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced.  Angelica Morales Fuentes, 30, accessed the payroll system of a staffing company and created multiple fictitious employee accounts, diverting the wages into a joint account she shared with Hector Ortiz, 39. The duo stole $349,000 from the business between August 2019 and November 2022, Suarez said. They were charged with theft by deception and conspiracy, Suarez said. Morales Fuentes was additional charged with computer crim…

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by Sam Barron