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Guilty! Philly Man Permanently Disfigures Ex-GF In Soda Ash Attack: Usdoj
A Philadelphia man was convicted on Friday, Sept. 6 after a trial of stalking his ex — a federal employee — and burning her face with a corrosive substance, nearly blinding her in one eye while she was on her way to work, federal authorities said.
Victor Ortiz, 47, of Philadelphia, threw a "caustic substance" — soda ash — at her face and torso, on May 4, 2022, according to U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero.
His attack temporarily blinded her in the left eye and caused severe pain and permanent scarring on her body, Romero said.
Investigators found that Ortizz had attached a GPS device to…
Kevin L. Smith Sentenced For Sex Trafficking In Bucks, Delco
A 29-year-old Philadelphia man has been sentenced to 23 years in federal prison for sex trafficking multiple victims including a minor, authorities said.
Kevin L. Smith was sentenced on Wednesday, July 31, according to U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero.
The charges stemmed from Smith’s operation of a sex trafficking ring in Philadelphia and the surrounding region, including Bucks and Delaware counties.
In September 2019, Smith knowingly harbored, maintained, and advertised a minor, knowing the minor would be caused to engage in sex for money, Romero said.
The defendant also o…
Reading Man Sentenced For Trying To Kill FBI Agents: Prosecutors
A Reading man was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for the attempted murder of three FBI agents, according to the US Attorney's Office.
Rafael Vega-Rodriguez, 42, was also given five years of supervised release, a $4,500 fine, and an $800 special assessment, prosecutors said in a release on Wednesday, July 24.
Authorities said Vega-Rodriguez was wanted for a state parole violation when the agents spotted him on West Greenwich Street on March 1, 2020.
They tried to stop him but Vega-Rodriguez drew a handgun from his waistband and opened fire as he fled, authorities …
NY Man Who Assaulted Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Gets 2 Years, No Parole
UPDATE: An upstate New York man who admitted assaulting a fellow passenger on a flight from Denver to Newark must spend two plea-bargained years in federal prison.
Ryan Manuella, 30, of Erie County, “moved to a vacant center seat next to a female passenger, who was sitting in a window seat” on the April 16, 2021 flight, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Manuella, who didn't know the woman, then "touched the passenger without her consent," Sellinger said.
"The victim then yelled at him and left the row of seats," the U.S. attorney said.
Defense attorney Andrew Olesnyck…
Final Defendant In Trenton Police Car Firebombing Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen
UPDATE: A Trenton man who threw a makeshift Molotov cocktail into a city police vehicle following a protest was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.
Kadeem A. Dockery, 31, is the last of four defendants sentenced in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 31, 2020 protest in Trenton.
Video captured by surveillance cameras and personal cellphones helped authorities identify Dockery, who was arrested a little over two months later, and Killian F Melecio, 22, of Columbus, NJ.
Rather than face trial, Dockery took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in May 2021 to attemptin…
Feds: Getaway Minivan Driver Gets 12 Years, No Parole, For Armed Robbery Spree In NJ, PA
UPDATE: The man who drove the getaway car -- actually a minivan -- in an armed robbery spree in New Jersey and Pennsylvania must spend the next 12 years in federal prison.
Omar Feliciano-Estremera, 45, was the wheelman for a fellow Trentonian Gabriel Lopez, who authorities said fired a gun during one of the holdups.
The pair committed the robberies at mostly convenience stores in Mercer and Union counties in New Jersey and in Bucks County, PA in May and June of 2019, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Lopez "entered the businesses, brandished a handgun, and demanded money from the sto…
Plea Deal: 10 Years, No Parole, Awaits Philly Dealer Who Slung Meth In NJ
UPDATE: A plea deal is sending a Philadelphia drug dealer who slung meth in New Jersey to federal prison for 10 years without parole, authorities said.
Nasir White, 30, took the deal, pleading guilty to drug conspiracy, rather than risk the consequences of being convicted at a trial. He must serve out the entire sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
A fellow dealer, Shawn McGuriman, took the same deal and was sentenced in August 2021 to a decade behind bars, as well, authorities said.
White and McGuriman had a half-pound of meth that they'd agreed to sell to anot…
NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time
UPDATE: A New Jersey woman who helped pull a scam that conned 14,000 GoFundMe donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran is headed to federal prison.
Katelyn McClure, 32, of Bordentown got a far lighter sentence under the terms of her plea deal with the government than did her former boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, who concocted the cruel scheme.
McClure was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday to a plea-bargained year and a day in a federal penitentiary. D’Amico, the "mastermind," earlier this year got 27 months in a fed pen in exchange …
Maryland Drug Dealer Sentenced For Selling Heroin, Fentanyl Across Four States
A Baltimore man has been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing and distributing controlled substances, officials say.
Devin Cunningham, 27, was involved in the selling and distributing of narcotics including fentanyl, heroin, and other controlled substances to Maryland and surrounding states from 2017 until 2020.
Specifically, between January 2017 and December 2020, "scores of customers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia traveled to the Forest Park area of Baltimore and purchased between a half of a gram and several grams of fentanyl or h…
