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US Marine Corps

Police & Fire
PA Marine, EMT, Firefighter Dies After Crashing Motorcycle Riding To Work PA Marine, EMT, Firefighter Dies After Crashing Motorcycle Riding To Work
PA Marine, EMT, Firefighter Dies After Crashing Motorcycle Riding To Work A man who had been a firefighter in his community since 2013 died weeks after a motorcycle crash he had on his way to work, his fire company announced on Sunday.  Chris McCann was a member of the Lancaster City Bureau of Fire, most recently serving as 2nd Driver of C-Platoon Company 1. On his way to work at the fire department just before 7 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28 he was involved in a serious crash, Tony Ruiz explained in a GoFundMe he created to help cover the mounting medical costs.  Chris went "through the gauntlet of tests and (surgeries), with injuries too numer…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
PA Marine Veteran's Road Rage Killer Still At Large, State Police Say PA Marine Veteran's Road Rage Killer Still At Large, State Police Say
PA Marine Veteran's Road Rage Killer Still At Large, State Police Say The gunman who shot and killed a US Marine Corps veteran on a Pennsylvania highway in 1980 was never identified, but state police believe he could still be caught.  Donald Roy Wilt was just 26 years old when he was shot and killed on August 30, 1980.  The former Marine and his wife Rosemary were on their way back from dinner in Grantsville, Fayette County, when they were westbound on Route 40 toward Henry Clay Township.  At some point on the road, Wilt and a driver in a white Chrysler Cordoba became involved in an apparent road rage spat, witnesses told s…

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by Mac Bullock
News
Convicted NJ Sex Offender Charged With Trafficking Child Porn Convicted NJ Sex Offender Charged With Trafficking Child Porn
Convicted NJ Sex Offender Charged With Trafficking Child Porn A retired Marine from South Jersey who'd previously been convicted of having sex with an underage Pennsylvania girl was arrested by federal agents on child porn charges, authorities said. A U.S. District Court judge in Camden released Matthew Knapp, 38, of Lindenwold, on an unsecured bond following his arrest by Homeland Security Investigations agents last week, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on Monday, Feb. 27. The agents found Knapp sharing the images from his home, the U.S. attorney said. A warranted search of the residence produced the seizure of, among other things, “a co…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fake 'Marine' Who Conned Elderly Bucks Couple For $320K Learns Fate Fake 'Marine' Who Conned Elderly Bucks Couple For $320K Learns Fate
Fake 'Marine' Who Conned Elderly Bucks Couple For $320K Learns Fate The conman who posed as a US Marine Corps veteran to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly couple in Bucks County is going to prison.  Marc Cheeseman, a 50-year-old Silverdale resident, was sentenced to five to seven years in a Pennsylvania state prison in a hearing on Thursday, Jan. 19, District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said in a statement.  Cheeseman previously pleaded guilty in September to several felony theft charges and one misdemeanor count of impersonating a veteran, the DA said.  In court, prosecutors argued that he carried on a yearslong scheme t…

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by Mac Bullock
News
Marine Corps Vet From NJ Admits Defrauding VA Out Of $119,000, Threatening Agent Marine Corps Vet From NJ Admits Defrauding VA Out Of $119,000, Threatening Agent
Marine Corps Vet From NJ Admits Defrauding VA Out Of $119,000, Threatening Agent A U.S. Marine Corps veteran from New Jersey admitted that he threatened to harm a federal agent after defrauding the VA out of $118,979 in disability benefits, authorities said. Kamil Wakulik, 38, lied when he claimed that he'd suffered PTSD from active-duty service that included having to recover human remains following natural disasters in the Philippines and Thailand, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Wakulik, who lives in the Morris County community of Long Valley and was in the Corps from 2003 to 2007, wasn't involved in such operations, the U.S. attorney said. Ba…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Obituaries
Marine ID'd As Motorcyclist Killed In Central Pennsylvania Crash: Coroner Marine ID'd As Motorcyclist Killed In Central Pennsylvania Crash: Coroner
Marine ID'd As Motorcyclist Killed In Central Pennsylvania Crash: Coroner The motorcycle rider who died at the scene of a crash in central Pennsylvania on Saturday, August 20, has been identified by the Lancaster County Coroner's office. Ricardo Reyes, 35, of Mount Joy, was killed in the two-vehicle crash at 8:15 p.m., according to a release by the Lancaster County Forensic Center.  The Manor Township police were called to a crash involving a motorcycle at the intersection of Seitz and Manor Church roads at 7:22 p.m., according to a release by the department. The police officers "render aid to the motorcycle rider until Blue Rock FD and EMS arrived," as stated …

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by Jillian Pikora
News
Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death
Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death He was considered one of the last of the old-time mobsters, a "real-life Tony Soprano" listed as one of New Jersey's most wanted fugitives. Even six feet under, though, Tony Mota couldn't evade his pursuers. After eluding capture for nearly 25 years for a gruesome murder committed in Hudson County, Anthony Mota was found buried in the country where he was born, the Dominican Republic. Mota had been collecting debts for high-level Colombian drug dealers in New York City when he and a group of accomplices abducted a Queens man on Dec. 13, 1997, authorities said. The victim, 38-year-old …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Naval Academy ID's Annapolis Midshipman Who Died In Philadelphia Surrounded By Family Naval Academy ID's Annapolis Midshipman Who Died In Philadelphia Surrounded By Family
Naval Academy ID's Annapolis Midshipman Who Died In Philadelphia Surrounded By Family The Naval Academy has identified the Annapolis midshipman who died while on leave in Philadelphia. Taylor Connors, a 24-year-old Pleasant View, Utah native, died Tuesday, June 7, with family by his bedside, the US Naval Academy said. “Our Naval Academy community is mourning a tragic loss this week of a life taken far too soon – Midshipman Taylor Connors honorably served his nation as a Marine and as a midshipman,” said Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy.  Connors attended Utah Military Academy where he attained the rank of group commander, responsib…

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by Nicole Acosta & Annie DeVoe
Obituaries
Beloved Pennsylvania K9 Officer Dies Beloved Pennsylvania K9 Officer Dies
Beloved Pennsylvania K9 Officer Dies The Warrington Police Department is mourning the loss of K-9 officer Stephen Plum Jr. Officer Plum served for eight years alongside his K-9 partner Murphy, the department announced Monday, May 16. Details surrounding the officer's "sudden passing" were not immediately made clear.  He was also a US Marine Corps veteran, and he leaves behind his wife Nancy and five children, according to the department and a GoFundMe page launched for his funeral expenses. "Officer Plum’s infectious laugh, smile, and heart impacted everyone around him," organizer Rose Vandegrift wrote. "Officer Plum wi…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
Career Criminal, 73, Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire Of NJ Politico Career Criminal, 73, Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire Of NJ Politico
Career Criminal, 73, Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire Of NJ Politico A hardened ex-con from Connecticut admitted that he and a longtime criminal pal from Philadelphia stabbed a political consultant to death and then torched his Jersey City apartment in a murder-for-hire attack. George Bratsenis, 73, of Monroe, CT said he and his partner were paid to whack Michael Galdieri, the son of former State Sen. James Galdieri (D-Jersey City) and a prominent figure in local Hudson County politics. Bratsenis and the other killer, Bomani Africa, 61, were hired by onetime political operative Sean Caddle, who’d been an aide to former State Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Officer Cleared In Shooting NJ Shore Man Who Rushed Him With Knife At Scene Of Fatal Stabbing Officer Cleared In Shooting NJ Shore Man Who Rushed Him With Knife At Scene Of Fatal Stabbing
Officer Cleared In Shooting NJ Shore Man Who Rushed Him With Knife At Scene Of Fatal Stabbing A local police officer was justified in shooting a Jersey Shore man who charged at him with a knife at a murder scene while yelling "just kill me!" a grand jury has found. Charles Tsakiris, 38, opened the door of his Walnut Street home in Farmingdale with the knife in his right hand at 10:45 p.m. Oct. 18, police bodycam footage shows. Farmingdale doesn’t have its own police force, so a Howell Township police officer responded to a 911 call of a "person claiming to be dying after being stabbed by his brother," according to police records. Tsakiris was clad only in briefs as he opened his do…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
PA Wrestler Heading To Tokyo Olympics PA Wrestler Heading To Tokyo Olympics
PA Wrestler Heading To Tokyo Olympics A York County grappler is heading to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. John Stefanowicz, 29, will wrestle for Team USA after securing a spot on the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team, by winning at the US Olympic trials. A graduate of Kennard-Dale High School, Stefanowicz also wrestles for the Marine Corps. Staff Sgt. Johnny Stefanowicz is going to represent Team USA at the #RoadToTokyo Olympic 🇺🇸 P.S. Also representing U.S. Marine Corps, All-Marine Wrestling Team, SEMPER FI! 🦅🌎⚓️ #WrestlingTrials21 Posted by Camp Lejeune on Saturday, April 3, 2021 "It's life-changing," he told WGAL News 8.…

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by Jillian Pikora