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U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti

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Former NJ Child Services Caseworker Admits Collecting Kid Porn Former NJ Child Services Caseworker Admits Collecting Kid Porn
Former NJ Child Services Caseworker Admits Collecting Kid Porn 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A 57-year-old former caseworker for the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency admitted collecting images of victims as young as toddlers being sexually abused, federal authorities said. Authorities found images on his cellphone after Trent Collier, 57, of Kearny, arrived at Newark Airport on a flight from the Dominican Republic, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Collier was targeted because he'd apparently exchanged images on the phone while out of the country, investigators said. He ended up taking a deal from the government rather than risking the potential ou…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Newark Woman, 21, Gets Dozen Years For Jersey City Robbery Spree, Clerk Shooting UPDATE: Newark Woman, 21, Gets Dozen Years For Jersey City Robbery Spree, Clerk Shooting
Update: Newark Woman, 21, Gets Dozen Years For Jersey City Robbery Spree, Clerk Shooting 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A 21-year-old Newark woman is headed to federal prison for 12 years for her role in a violent robbery spree in Jersey City in which a fast-food clerk was shot in the chest. Siobhan Chandler will have to serve at least a decade before she'll be eligible for release because there's no parole in the federal prison system.Chandler had hoped for leniency when she took a deal from the government and admitted she was with ex-con Rodney Williams when he robbed a gas station and store at gunpoint and then shot a restaurant clerk during a third holdup last Nov. 14 Police captured bo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Online NJ Romance Scammer Who Conned Woman Out Of $66,000 Gets More Than Two Years, No Parole Online NJ Romance Scammer Who Conned Woman Out Of $66,000 Gets More Than Two Years, No Parole
Online NJ Romance Scammer Who Conned Woman Out Of $66,000 Gets More Than Two Years, No Parole An Essex County man who helped swindle what he called a “filthy rich woman” out of nearly $66,000 in an online romance scam was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. Mahmoud Bowler, 40, of Newark, and an unidentified co-conspirator whom he grew up with in Ghana double-teamed the Florida victim over the course of nearly three years after connecting with her on an online dating site using a bogus profile name. Bowler then turned around and screwed his partner, keeping the majority of the money that they'd collected from the victim, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Phillip R. Sellinger said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Jurors Convict Elizabeth Man Who Lured Out-Of-State Escorts To NJ, Then Raped And Beat Them Jurors Convict Elizabeth Man Who Lured Out-Of-State Escorts To NJ, Then Raped And Beat Them
Jurors Convict Elizabeth Man Who Lured Out-Of-State Escorts To NJ, Then Raped And Beat Them Federal jurors in Newark convicted an Elizabeth man of luring out-of-state escorts to New Jersey for sex with false promises of paying them tens of thousands of dollars, authorities said. Jose Torres, 45, refused to pay those who accepted the offer and often raped and beat any who pressed him for the money, according to an indictment that led to his conviction on Wednesday, Oct. 11, following a six-day trial. Jurors in federal court in Newark found Torres guilty of four counts of persuading, inducing, and enticing women to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, U…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Member Of Paterson '230 Boys' Admits Selling Heroin-Laced Fentanyl That Killed User Member Of Paterson '230 Boys' Admits Selling Heroin-Laced Fentanyl That Killed User
Member Of Paterson '230 Boys' Admits Selling Heroin-Laced Fentanyl That Killed User A reputed member of a notorious Paterson street gang admitted in federal court in Newark on Wednesday that he sold fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a user. Authorities didn't identify the victim who they said died after ingesting drugs sold by Wyzier Peterson, 25. Peterson was among 17 reputed 230 Boys members charged in a coordinated heroin, fentanyl and cocaine trafficking case assembled in September 2019 by a strike force comprised of agents from the DEA, ATF and state, county and local law enforcement. One of them, Keith Brinkley, shot a Belleville man in Paterson and then fled to Geo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Trenton Police Car Firebomber Gets 2½ Years Without Parole In Federal Prison Trenton Police Car Firebomber Gets 2½ Years Without Parole In Federal Prison
Trenton Police Car Firebomber Gets 2½ Years Without Parole In Federal Prison The last of four men who admitted torching a police car during a riot following a civil rights protest in Trenton was sentenced to 2½ years in federal prison. Earlja J. Dudley, 28, of Trenton, will have to serve just about all of the plea-bargained sentence handed down Wednesday, March 2, because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Surveillance and bystander video showed Dudley and another man opening the vehicle’s hood and igniting an engine fire during the unrest on May 31, 2020, following what had been a peaceful day of protest over the death of George Floyd, U.S. Attorney Ph…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels
Paterson Man Admits Laundering $1.94 Million For Drug Cartels A Paterson man admitted in federal court on Friday that he laundered nearly $2 million for Central and South American drug cartels operating in New Jersey and New York, authorities said. Julio De La Cruz Acosta, 42, accepted the cash to buy 67 cashier’s checks at banks in and around New Jersey and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He was one of a half-dozen residents from the area accused of laundering more than $27 million for the cartels, Sellinger said. Morristown police helped the DEA and IRS crack the case, in which the defendants and other conspirators converted cash…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Middlesex Man Who Torched Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen Middlesex Man Who Torched Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen
Middlesex Man Who Torched Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen UPDATE: A Middlesex County man must spend the next two years in federal prison for stuffing a rag into the gas tank of a police cruiser and setting it on fire during a riot in Trenton following a protest last year over the death of George Floyd. Justin Spry, 22, of South Plainfield originally claimed on Twitter that he was brutalized by police, but federal authorities produced surveillance video showing otherwise. Spry and two other men involved in the arson attack took deals from the government rather than go to trial. All must serve out their entire sentences because there's no parole in…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
GOING POSTAL: Hudson County Man Admits Pulling Over, Pointing Gun At Mail Carrier GOING POSTAL: Hudson County Man Admits Pulling Over, Pointing Gun At Mail Carrier
Going Postal: Hudson County Man Admits Pulling Over, Pointing Gun At Mail Carrier A Hudson County man admitted Tuesday that he pulled over a postal worker and pointed a gun at him. What motivated Joseph Cartagena, 34, of Jersey City, wasn't clear when he pleaded guilty via videoconference with a federal judge in Newark to one count of assaulting a federal employee. The U.S. Postal Service employee told police that he got out of his truck and approached Cartagena to find out why he had him stop on March 3, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Cartagena then "pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the postal employee," Honig said. "The postal employee immediately p…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jersey Shore Bookie Admits Running Own ‘Pick Six’ Lottery, Cash Prizes Topped $100,000 Jersey Shore Bookie Admits Running Own ‘Pick Six’ Lottery, Cash Prizes Topped $100,000
Jersey Shore Bookie Admits Running Own ‘Pick Six’ Lottery, Cash Prizes Topped $100,000 A Jersey Shore bookmaker admitted in federal court on Tuesday that he operated his own lottery game in Hudson County using the numbers from the New Jersey Lottery Pick Six to award winners. Up to 8,000 participants at a time selected six numbers from 1 to 49 at $20 a pop, Edward O’Neill, 54, told a U.S. District Court judge in Newark. The sole winner of the illegal lottery was whoever matched all six numbers selected in the official Pick Six drawing. Prizes often exceeded $100,000, said O’Neill, of Beachwood, who skimmed a 10% vig off the total bets. Like bookies of days past, O’Neill per…

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by Jerry DeMarco