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U.S. Department of Justice

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NJ First Lady Murphy Won't Accept Senate Appointment NJ First Lady Murphy Won't Accept Senate Appointment
NJ First Lady Murphy Won't Accept Senate Appointment As speculation swirls over who Gov. Phil Murphy will pick to replace Sen. Bob Menendez, who announced his resignation, one prominent Garden Stater is already saying "no thanks." Tammy Murphy, the wife of the governor who ended her Senate campaign earlier this year, said on Tuesday, July 23, she would not accept the temporary appointment. "I am completely focused on the critical work of boosting infant and maternal health, combating climate change, and uplifting the voices of those in greatest need," New Jersey's First Lady said. "I am confident the Governor will appoint a&nbs…

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by Sam Barron
Politics
Sen. Bob Menendez Announces Resignation Sen. Bob Menendez Announces Resignation
Sen. Bob Menendez Announces Resignation New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez submitted his letter of resignation on Tuesday, July 23. Menendez's planned resignation, set for Aug. 20, comes one week after his conviction on felony corruption charges.  A jury found the Democrat guilty on all 16 counts after prosecutors accused him of giving secret information and military aid to Egypt in exchange for various favors, according to a release by the US Department of Justice.  Calls for Menendez's resignation had reached a fever pitch following his conviction and the Senate Ethics Committee was preparing an investigation that could…

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by Sam Barron
News
Extradition Approved For 'So I Raped You' Gettysburg Student, Report Says Extradition Approved For 'So I Raped You' Gettysburg Student, Report Says
Extradition Approved For 'So I Raped You' Gettysburg Student, Report Says Almost three years after a warrant was issued for the arrest of a Pennsylvania college student's accused rapist, he was taken into custody in France, numerous outlets reported in May. Despite his appeal to not be extradited, a court ruled that he will be sent back to Pennsylvania for a trial, according to a release on Monday, July 8, AP reported.  Ian Thomas Cleary, 31, who has been living in Europe for several years, was taken into custody in Metz in April 2024 a prosecutor told previously Associated Press.  Cleary was accused of raping Gettysburg Co…

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by Jillian Pikora
Police & Fire
'You Will All Die': FBI Seizes NJ Man Who Threatened White Massacre 'You Will All Die': FBI Seizes NJ Man Who Threatened White Massacre
'You Will All Die': FBI Seizes NJ Man Who Threatened White Massacre FBI agents in New Jersey seized a discharged U.S. Marine who they said publicly threatened to massacre as many white people as he could. "I want to erase them," Joshua Cobb, 23, posted on social media, according to U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger. "All of them really, but in this case as many as I possibly can." Interviewed by law enforcement, Cobb admitted writing the posts and even identified what he'd considered potential targets, including a Jersey Strong gym and an Aldi grocery store in Robbinsville, the U.S. attorney said on Monday, May 13. He "also discussed hi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Longshoreman Gets 2½ Years For Ducking Taxes On $2.5M Of Income Feds: NJ Longshoreman Gets 2½ Years For Ducking Taxes On $2.5M Of Income
Feds: NJ Longshoreman Gets 2½ Years For Ducking Taxes On $2.5M Of Income A Port Newark mechanic who was convicted of ducking taxes on $2.5 million of income was sentenced to nearly 2½ years in federal prison. Jonathan Michael, 55, of Springfield had filed returns and paid his taxes without fail for decades, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release. In 2014, however, he gave his employer in the machine shop at the Port Newark Container Terminal a bogus W-4 form, claiming that he was exempt from any federal income tax withholding from his pay, federal authorities said. The IRS notified Michael in 2016 that he wasn't entitled to exempt status, but he wrote…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Foreign Citizen Who Threatened To Assassinate Joe Biden, Donald Trump Goes To Prison In PA Foreign Citizen Who Threatened To Assassinate Joe Biden, Donald Trump Goes To Prison In PA
Foreign Citizen Who Threatened To Assassinate Joe Biden, Donald Trump Goes To Prison In PA A Somalian man living in Pennsylvania threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, and now he's in a Pennsylvania Prison, according to a release by the US Department of Justice on March 15, 2024. Mohamed Farah, 34, who was living in Cumberland County, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer P. Wilson to three years’ imprisonment on Wednesday, March 13.  Following his release, the Court has also imposed a three-year term of probation.  "The indictment alleges that in January 2022, Farah, who is a citizen of Somalia, threatened to ass…

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by Jillian Pikora
Police & Fire
Jacket With Name, Phone Number Led Feds Right To Capitol Rioter From New Jersey: DOJ Jacket With Name, Phone Number Led Feds Right To Capitol Rioter From New Jersey: DOJ
Jacket With Name, Phone Number Led Feds Right To Capitol Rioter From New Jersey: DOJ A Toms River man wearing a jacket with his business's name and phone number on the front of it to the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection has been arrested more than three years later. Robert Coppotelli was charged with four misdemeanor counts of illegally entering the Capitol and disrupting the joint session of Congress to count the electoral college votes in the 2020 Presidential election. The accusations against Coppotelli were outlined in a court document filed on Friday, Feb. 16. Prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice said an anonymous tip in July 2021 identified …

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
NJ Pair Staged Dog Fights, Shared Vids On Telegram Of 'Underperformers' Being Hanged: Feds NJ Pair Staged Dog Fights, Shared Vids On Telegram Of 'Underperformers' Being Hanged: Feds
NJ Pair Staged Dog Fights, Shared Vids On Telegram Of 'Underperformers' Being Hanged: Feds Two South Jersey men were charged by federal authorities with participating in a depraved multi-state dog-fighting collective. Tommy J. Watson of Clayton and others used the “DMV Board” on the Telegram app to share videos of live dog fights, dogs being trained to fight and "the killing of underperforming fighting dogs, including by hanging,” U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Monday, Dec. 11. They also posted bloodline information on the dog fighting website “Peds Online” from an operation they called “From Da Bottom Kennels,” the U.S. attorney said. Federal authoriti…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'I Am The Attacker': Former High School Student Admits Threat That Shook Synagogues Across NJ 'I Am The Attacker': Former High School Student Admits Threat That Shook Synagogues Across NJ
'I Am The Attacker': Former High School Student Admits Threat That Shook Synagogues Across NJ A 19-year-old New Jersey man faces up to five years in federal prison after admitting that he posted threats to a synagogue and Jewish people. Omar Alkattoul of Sayreville posted a manifesto last Nov. 1 in a forum frequented by extremists that included a claim of an attack that he said had already occurred. This triggered instant alarms because active shooters in certain instances have done the same just before carrying out fatal missions across the U.S. Alkattoul frightened Jews statewide, sparked a surge of law enforcement tactical protection at their houses of worship and prompted the F…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Stillborn Baby Corpses Sold By Nationwide Network: USDOJ Indictment Stillborn Baby Corpses Sold By Nationwide Network: USDOJ Indictment
Stillborn Baby Corpses Sold By Nationwide Network: Usdoj Indictment Two Pennsylvania men have been indicted in connection to purchasing human body parts— including stillborn babies— from medical students through social media, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Those indicted for conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges— the goods being human body parts— are as follows according to the US Department of Justice: Cedric Lodge, age 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire. Katrina Maclean, age 44, of Salem, Massachusetts. Joshua Taylor, age 46, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania. Denise Lo…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
Emmy-Nominated Producer Charged In Child Porn Scandal: Feds Emmy-Nominated Producer Charged In Child Porn Scandal: Feds
Emmy-Nominated Producer Charged In Child Porn Scandal: Feds A former ABC employee and Emmy Award-nominated journalist is facing federal charges for transporting photos that show the sexual abuse of children, said officials who noted he had been corresponding with others who “expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children.” James Gordon Meek, who resigned from ABC in April 2022 the day his Virginia home was raided, had several devices that contained images depicting children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, the US Department of Justice announced. Meek also had engaged in multiple conversations over apps and other platforms with…

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by Zak Failla
News
Bizman Who Laundered $2.5M In Drug Money Through NJ, NY Gets Nearly 10 Years, No Parole Bizman Who Laundered $2.5M In Drug Money Through NJ, NY Gets Nearly 10 Years, No Parole
Bizman Who Laundered $2.5M In Drug Money Through NJ, NY Gets Nearly 10 Years, No Parole A Puerto Rican man must spend nearly a decade in federal prison for laundering more than $2.5 million in drug proceeds through New Jersey and New York. Osvaldo Villegas Rivera, 57, of Rio Piedras, conspired with others to move the money from Miami to Venezuela between 2017 and 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release on Friday, Oct. 28. "The proceeds consisted of five deliveries of bulk cash picked up in the New York and New Jersey area that Villegas knew to be traceable to the sale of cocaine," according to the release. Villegas "also employed a network of couriers to move t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Worldwide Ransomware Rampage: Iranians Hack NJ Town, PA Domestic Violence Shelter, Feds Charge Worldwide Ransomware Rampage: Iranians Hack NJ Town, PA Domestic Violence Shelter, Feds Charge
Worldwide Ransomware Rampage: Iranians Hack NJ Town, PA Domestic Violence Shelter, Feds Charge Federal authorities are offering a $10 million reward to help locate a trio of Iranian nationals who held the computer systems of a New Jersey town, a domestic violence shelter in Pennsylvania and hundreds of other victims across the U.S. and abroad hostage in a series of hack attacks. Using Microsoft’s BitLocker security tool, the hackers locked up and then stole secure files before sending ransom notes – some of which were spit out on the victims’ printers, the FBI said on Wednesday, Sept. 14. The unidentified shelter ended up paying $13,000 in bitcoin to retrieve its files, according to …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Pet Food Manufacturer With 'Grossly Insanitary Conditions' Halts Production, FDA Says NJ Pet Food Manufacturer With 'Grossly Insanitary Conditions' Halts Production, FDA Says
NJ Pet Food Manufacturer With 'Grossly Insanitary Conditions' Halts Production, FDA Says A New Jersey-based pet food manufacturer has stopped sales after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cited the company for operating under "grossly insanitary conditions." Bravo Packing, Inc., of Carney's Point, agreed to stop selling, manufacturing, and distributing raw pet food pending compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). During inspections in 2019 and 2021, the FDA found evidence of significant food safety violations including grossly insanitary conditions and the failure to follow Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) regulations…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Capitol Rioter, Penn State Grad Dies By Suicide Month Before Sentencing Capitol Rioter, Penn State Grad Dies By Suicide Month Before Sentencing
Capitol Rioter, Penn State Grad Dies By Suicide Month Before Sentencing A Pennsylvania man charged in the US Jan. 6 Capitol riot died by suicide a month before he was set to be sentenced, according to the Mercer County coroner's office. Matthew Lawrence Perna, 37, died on Friday, Feb. 25 after taking his own life at his home, the coroner’s office says. His sentencing date was set for Friday, April 1, in the US District Court District of Columbia court records show. Perna was federally indicted in the Capitol riot and pleaded guilty in December to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding an…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
4 Men Arrested For Selling Fentanyl-Laced Heroin To Actor Michael K. Williams 4 Men Arrested For Selling Fentanyl-Laced Heroin To Actor Michael K. Williams
4 Men Arrested For Selling Fentanyl-Laced Heroin To Actor Michael K. Williams Four men have been arrested and charged in connection with the fatal overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams, according to a release by the US Department of Justice. All four men were taken into custody on Tuesday– including one defendant who was arrested in Puerto Rico, according to the news release. Williams, 54, died of acute drug intoxication Sept. 6, according to the New York City medical examiner's office. The office previously ruled the death accidental and no foul play was suspected according to statements by law enforcement in the days and weeks following his death. Three o…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
Pedo Who Got No Prison Time For Sexually Assaulting Boy, 5, In Grenada Faces Long Sentence Here Pedo Who Got No Prison Time For Sexually Assaulting Boy, 5, In Grenada Faces Long Sentence Here
Pedo Who Got No Prison Time For Sexually Assaulting Boy, 5, In Grenada Faces Long Sentence Here A New York City man who got no prison time in Grenada after admitting that he sexually assaulted a 5-year-old boy there is facing justice here in the United States. Seized by U.S. government agents, Treverson Roberts, 27, pleaded guilty to the crime in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday in a bid for leniency. Roberts certainly won't get the kind of leniency he got in Grenada. The maximum penalty here is 30 years. The dual U.S. and Grenadian citizen -- who lives in Brooklyn -- will also have to serve out just about all of his eventual sentence. There's no parole in the U.S. federal prison …

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by Jerry DeMarco