Tag:

Federal sentencing

Sterling, VA
Traffic
Dulles Airport Worker Busted With Cocaine, Fake Cash After Flight From Panama: Feds Dulles Airport Worker Busted With Cocaine, Fake Cash After Flight From Panama: Feds
Dulles Airport Worker Busted With Cocaine, Fake Cash After Flight From Panama: Feds A trusted airport worker with top-level access at Dulles International Airport used his job to smuggle cocaine into the country, federal officials say. José Luis Castillo Rojas, 43, pleaded guilty in Alexandria to importing nearly 2 kilograms of cocaine into the United States through Washington Dulles International Airport, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Castillo Rojas, a Peruvian citizen, was employed by an airport services company and held a Special Access Seal granting him unescorted access to customs security areas, including international fl…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
New City, NY
News
6 Poisoned By Fentanyl, 3 Die: Dealer From Congers Gets Prison Time 6 Poisoned By Fentanyl, 3 Die: Dealer From Congers Gets Prison Time
6 Poisoned By Fentanyl, 3 Die: Dealer From Congers Gets Prison Time A drug dealer from Rockland County will spend more than two decades behind bars for distributing fentanyl that led to the deaths of three young people and the poisonings of three others, prosecutors announced.  Justin Turnick, age 26, of Congers, was sentenced to over 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Thursday, Feb. 20.  According to prosecutors, Turnick regularly sold fentanyl in various forms—including pills, pure fentanyl, and fentanyl-laced powder—to membe…

SHARE

by Ben Crnic
Cherry Hill, NJ
Police & Fire
MAIL-ORDER METH: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen MAIL-ORDER METH: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen
Mail-order Meth: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen A New Jersey man who shipped more than 100 pounds of crystal meth for sale cross-country through the U.S. mail was sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison as part of a plea deal. Michael Venditti, 39, of Camden, was arrested during a controlled delivery of a package in September 2021. It had been intercepted on its way from Calexico, a Southern California town at the Mexican border, federal authorities said. Inspectors got a warrant to open the package after a drug-detection dog reacted to its arrival at a South Jersey postal facility, they said. Inspectors swapped some of the m…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Amherst, MA
Police & Fire
Western Mass Man Shared Child Porn Of Kid Under 12-Years-Old: Feds Western Mass Man Shared Child Porn Of Kid Under 12-Years-Old: Feds
Western Mass Man Shared Child Porn Of Kid Under 12-Years-Old: Feds A 25-year-old Amherst man was arrested Wednesday morning, Oct. 18, and charged with having and sharing child sexual abuse material last year, authorities said.  Bradley Driscoll faces one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said.  A federal indictment said that in August 2022, Driscoll had child sexual abuse videos that featured a kid under 12 years old.  Driscoll faces at least five years in prison and up to 40 years in prison if he is convicted, per federal sentencing guidelines…

SHARE

by Josh Lanier
Worcester, MA
Police & Fire
Child Porn: Spencer Man Who Admitted To Having Videos Of Kids As Young As 2 Gets 2 Years Child Porn: Spencer Man Who Admitted To Having Videos Of Kids As Young As 2 Gets 2 Years
Child Porn: Spencer Man Who Admitted To Having Videos Of Kids As Young As 2 Gets 2 Years A Worcester County man who admitted to having child porn that featured children as young as toddlers will spend the next 27 months behind bars, federal authorities said.  Joseph Michael Smith, 60, of Spencer, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in November and was sentenced this week, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said.  Police began investigating Smith in November 2021 after receiving several tips that a messenger account attached to his address had shared child pornography, the prosecutor said. Agents raided his home and found a driver that had 35 …

SHARE

by Josh Lanier
Fort Lee, NJ
News
Federal Fort Lee Fentanyl Bust: Manhattan Man, 64, Could Get 10 Years Without Parole Federal Fort Lee Fentanyl Bust: Manhattan Man, 64, Could Get 10 Years Without Parole
Federal Fort Lee Fentanyl Bust: Manhattan Man, 64, Could Get 10 Years Without Parole A 64-year-old Manhattan man busted by federal Homeland Security agents for dealing nearly a pound of a drug mixture that contained fentanyl in Fort Lee took a guilty plea Tuesday rather than risk the outcome of a trial. U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo scheduled sentencing for June 21 after Jose Migel Cleto pleaded guilty in Newark on Jan. 31 to distribution and possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Cleto could still get 10 years, which has become a federal mandatory minimum for fentanyl trafficking -- a crime that prosecutors and j…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
News
Feds: NY Ex-Con Who Tried To Get Loaded Gun By Newark Airport Security Gets 3 Years, No Parole Feds: NY Ex-Con Who Tried To Get Loaded Gun By Newark Airport Security Gets 3 Years, No Parole
Feds: NY Ex-Con Who Tried To Get Loaded Gun By Newark Airport Security Gets 3 Years, No Parole An ex-con from New York must spend the next three years in federal prison, with no parole, for trying to slip a loaded, stolen gun and lots of ammunition past a security checkpoint at Newark Airport. Desmond Herring, 48, of Newburgh made a beeline for his gate when a TSA officer staffing the checkpoint X-ray monitor found the loaded weapon -- along with boxes of ammo -- in his carry-on bag on Nov. 29, 2021, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said. Port Authority police collected the bag and examined its contents, the TSA said at the time. Along with the 9mm pistol were 10 rou…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Jersey City, NJ
News
Hudson Child Porn Collector Gets 9 Years In Fed Pen Hudson Child Porn Collector Gets 9 Years In Fed Pen
Hudson Child Porn Collector Gets 9 Years In Fed Pen A Jersey City man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Thursday for collecting child porn. Benigno Gonzalez-Mendoza, 37, will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Gonzalez-Mendoza "knowingly received images and videos of child sexual abuse, including videos of adults sexually abusing prepubescent children," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. These included one of a girl believed to between 4 and 6 years old, an FBI complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says. Rather than face trial, Gonzalez-Mendoza …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Middletown, NJ
News
Dealer Who Sold Jersey Shore Woman Fatal Dose Of Heroin Gets 15 Years Without Parole In Fed Pen Dealer Who Sold Jersey Shore Woman Fatal Dose Of Heroin Gets 15 Years Without Parole In Fed Pen
Dealer Who Sold Jersey Shore Woman Fatal Dose Of Heroin Gets 15 Years Without Parole In Fed Pen A drug dealer who substituted fentanyl for heroin, killing a Jersey Shore woman, must spend more than 15 years in federal prison. Quasaan Bethea, 35, of Trenton, will have to serve out just about all of his plea-bargained 188-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The 39-year-old Englishtown victim bought the fatal dose – in a package stabbed “CAMEL” – from Bethea and Tarashanna Blake in May 2018, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Englishtown police who responded to a report of an overdose death soon after found several folds of “CAMEL” and some em…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
News
Feds: NJ Uber Carjacker Gets 8 Years Without Parole Feds: NJ Uber Carjacker Gets 8 Years Without Parole
Feds: NJ Uber Carjacker Gets 8 Years Without Parole A Union County man who dragged a female Uber driver from her vehicle and threw her to the ground during a carjacking must spend the next seven years in federal prison. Rakeem McNair, 22, of Roselle, joined Raquin Tanner, 26, of Newark in taking a deal from the government rather than risk trial. Both he and Tanner -- who got 6½ years -- must serve out just about all of their plea-bargained sentences because there's no parole in the federal prison system. The victim was in the driver’s seat of her parked car on Summer Avenue in Newark around 11 p.m. Aug. 13, 2019 when Tanner, McNair and anot…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
North Hunterdon, NJ
Police & Fire
Feds: Hunterdon County Man, 48, Pleads Guilty To Receiving, Possessing Child Porn Feds: Hunterdon County Man, 48, Pleads Guilty To Receiving, Possessing Child Porn
Feds: Hunterdon County Man, 48, Pleads Guilty To Receiving, Possessing Child Porn A 48-year-old Hunterdon County man admitted in court Wednesday to receiving and possessing child pornography, authorities said. Daniel Murphy, of Lebanon, pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography in Trenton federal court, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said in a release. Murphy received and possessed images depicting the sexual abuse of minors, Honig said. Child pornography receipt and possession charges carry a maximum penalty of 40 and 20 years in prison and fines totaling $250,000 each, respectively, Honig said. …

SHARE

by Valerie Musson
Elizabeth, NJ
Police & Fire
Plainfield Ex-Con Headed To Federal Prison For Ditching Gun, Drugs Plainfield Ex-Con Headed To Federal Prison For Ditching Gun, Drugs
Plainfield Ex-Con Headed To Federal Prison For Ditching Gun, Drugs An ex-con from Plainfield admitted in federal court in Newark that he sold cocaine and oxycodone while armed with a handgun. Arthur Forman, 37, pleaded guilty to drug and weapons possession, including being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, in exchange for leniency at an upcoming sentencing. Forman choked a Plainfield detective while resisting an Oct. 13, 2017 arrest, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. He then handed a bag containing cocaine and a gun to his sister, who threw it out a window, authorities said at the time. A search of Forman’s bedroom turned up “numerous oxyco…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco