Mostly Cloudy 58°
Tag:

US Attorney's Office

Police & Fire
Former Hoboken Employee Embezzled City Funds Into His Own Bank Account: Feds Former Hoboken Employee Embezzled City Funds Into His Own Bank Account: Feds
Former Hoboken Employee Embezzled City Funds Into His Own Bank Account: Feds The former Hoboken Director of Health and Human Services admitted on Thursday, Dec. 12 to embezzling money from the city, authorities said. Leo Pellegrini, who also served as director of the Department of Environmental Services diverted payments intended for the city to bank accounts he controlled, US Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Pellegrini also embezzled money from the city by submitting invoices for his personal business expenses, which the city unknowingly paid, Sellinger said. Pellegrini also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return in Newark Federal Court. Pellegrini's position …

SHARE

by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Newark Man Gets 5+ Years For Running Phony Car Ring That Netted $285K: Feds Newark Man Gets 5+ Years For Running Phony Car Ring That Netted $285K: Feds
Newark Man Gets 5+ Years For Running Phony Car Ring That Netted $285K: Feds A Newark man was recently sentenced to 70 months in prison for running a multistate car theft and fraud operation that defrauded victims of more than $285,000, authorities said. Warren Guerrier, 47,  had previously pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, US Attorney Phillip Sellinger said. From November 2016 to June 2020, Guerrier led a scheme to steal vehicles, fabricate titles, and sell them to unsuspecting buyers, Sellinger said. Guerrier and his accomplices tracked vehicles, photographed them, and advertised them online. Buyers were given fake cer…

SHARE

by Sam Barron
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…

SHARE

by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
North Bergen Man Sentenced For Having 900+ Videos Of Child Porn: Feds North Bergen Man Sentenced For Having 900+ Videos Of Child Porn: Feds
North Bergen Man Sentenced For Having 900+ Videos Of Child Porn: Feds A 31-year-old North Bergen man was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison on Wednesday, Oct. 9 after previously pleading guilty to possessing child pornography, authorities said. In April 2023, Christopher Carvajal’s iPhone was seized at Newark International Airport, US Attorney Phillip Sellinger said. A search revealed that Carvajal’s iPhone contained more than 900 video files and more than 400 image files depicting sexual abuse of minors, including infants or toddlers, Sellinger said.  Carvajal’s iPhone also contained communications in which Carvajal discussed his desire for sexua…

SHARE

by Sam Barron
News
9 NY, NJ Spas Selling Sex For Cash Exposed In Federal Investigation, US Attorney Says 9 NY, NJ Spas Selling Sex For Cash Exposed In Federal Investigation, US Attorney Says
9 NY, NJ Spas Selling Sex For Cash Exposed In Federal Investigation, US Attorney Says Four people have been charged with offering sexual favors at nine different massage parlors and spas across North Jersey and New York, federal officials said. Zhejun Piao, 37, a Chinese national, Miyeon Choi, 37, a South Korean national, Shangxian Cui, 36, Chinese national, and Meixiang Jin, 34, of Palisades Park, New Jersey, are charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit interstate travel or transportation in aid of a racketeering enterprise., U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Friday, Aug. 9. The following nine spas and massage parlors owned and operated by …

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
News
Screaming NJ Man Who Asked Flight Attendant For Sex Indicted For Unruly Flight Behavior: Feds Screaming NJ Man Who Asked Flight Attendant For Sex Indicted For Unruly Flight Behavior: Feds
Screaming NJ Man Who Asked Flight Attendant For Sex Indicted For Unruly Flight Behavior: Feds A 26-year-old New Jersey man who asked a flight attendant for sex and tried to open the aircraft's doors multiple times has been indicted by a federal grand jury, authorities said. Eric Nicholas Gapco, of Delanco, a passenger onboard American Airlines flight #2101, assaulted and intimidated a flight attendant and aircraft crew members on July 18, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The flight originated in Seattle en route to Dallas but was diverted to Salt Lake City where law enforcement arrested him. According to court documents, Gapco failed to follow instructions to remain in his …

SHARE

by Jon Craig
News
Philly Area Gravestone Salesman Scammed Mourners Out Of $1.5 Million, Feds Say Philly Area Gravestone Salesman Scammed Mourners Out Of $1.5 Million, Feds Say
Philly Area Gravestone Salesman Scammed Mourners Out Of $1.5 Million, Feds Say The owner of a headstone company is accused of ripping off hundreds of grieving customers across greater Philadelphia, federal prosecutors allege in an indictment.  Gregory J. Stefan Jr., 54, of Upper Merion, is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, according to the US Attorney's Office.  Between January 2018 and September of last year, Stefan accepted more than $1.5 million from customers who ordered memorials for loved ones, then failed to deliver the headstones they bought, authorities said. Stefan accepted the orders from nearly 500 customers through his companies 1843 LLC…

SHARE

by Mac Bullock
News
'American Ninja Warrior' Champ Drew Drechsel Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes Involving NJ Victim 'American Ninja Warrior' Champ Drew Drechsel Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes Involving NJ Victim
'American Ninja Warrior' Champ Drew Drechsel Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes Involving NJ Victim "American Ninja Warrior" champion Drew Drechsel's has fallen from grace and landed in federal prison. Drechsel, 35, who was crowned Total Champion of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior" in 2019, was sentenced last week in Camden Federal Court to 121 months in prison — just more than 10 years — for the charges stemming from child sex crimes that U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said involved a teen victim from New Jersey. "The Real Life Ninja" told investigators he met the victim in 2014, when they were 14 years old through the parkour community as an “American Ninja Warrior.…

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Former Notorious NJ Political Boss George Norcross Indicted For Racketeering Former Notorious NJ Political Boss George Norcross Indicted For Racketeering
Former Notorious NJ Political Boss George Norcross Indicted For Racketeering Former New Jersey Democratic kingmaker George E. Norcross III ran a criminal enterprise for nearly a dozen years during which he used his power and influence over elected officials to make laws that best served him, among other offenses, says a state indictment that charges him with racketeering. The poster boy of New Jersey political bosses, Norcross attended a news conference held on Monday, June 17 by state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin in Trenton -- uninvited -- to announce the indictment naming him and five co-defendants. When one of the attorney general's sta…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco