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Health Care Fraud Unit

Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes, NJ
News
Feds: Bergen Pill Mill Doc Who Called Himself 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Gets 6 Years, No Parole Feds: Bergen Pill Mill Doc Who Called Himself 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Gets 6 Years, No Parole
Feds: Bergen Pill Mill Doc Who Called Himself 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Gets 6 Years, No Parole A Bergen County doctor who called himself the “El Chapo of Opioids” was sentenced to six years in federal prison for doling out pain killers like candy and fudging medical records to cover it up. Robert Delagente, 48, of Oakland, must serve out the entire plea-bargained sentence approved by a federal judge in Newark on Thursday, May 5, because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Delagente, who’d practiced at North Jersey Family Medicine on Yawpo Avenue in Oakland, randomly wrote prescriptions for oxycodone, Percocet and more with no questions asked, then tried to cover his track…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes, NJ
News
DUMB CRIMINAL FILE: Gunman Botches Robberies Of Mail Carriers In Bergen, Passaic, Feds Charge DUMB CRIMINAL FILE: Gunman Botches Robberies Of Mail Carriers In Bergen, Passaic, Feds Charge
Dumb Criminal File: Gunman Botches Robberies Of Mail Carriers In Bergen, Passaic, Feds Charge A 20-year-old Paterson man was arrested after he tried and failed to rob postal carriers in Bergen and Passaic counties at gunpoint on the same day, federal authorities said. Yeniser Cruz Perez was carrying a gun when he approached one of the U.S. Postal Service carriers in the area of Brownstone Court and Wyckoff Avenue in Wyckoff on Jan. 20, 2020 and demanded the master key used to open mail collection boxes and apartment panels, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. The only problem: The worker didn't have one, Sellinger said. That same day, he said, Cruz Perez approached another USPS…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Jersey City, NJ
News
MURDER FOR HIRE: NJ Political Operative Admits Paying Hit Men To Kill Longtime Associate MURDER FOR HIRE: NJ Political Operative Admits Paying Hit Men To Kill Longtime Associate
Murder FOR Hire: NJ Political Operative Admits Paying Hit Men To Kill Longtime Associate A New Jersey-based political consultant admitted Tuesday that he hired two hitmen to kill a longtime associate from Hudson County who had worked for him on various election campaigns, federal authorities said. Sean Caddle, 44, a former aide to former State Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) paid the killers -- one from Connecticut, the other from Pennsylvania -- to get rid of Michael Galdieri, the son of former State Sen. James Galdieri (D-Jersey City) and a prominent figure in local Hudson County politics. Galdieri, 52, was stabbed to death in May 2014 before his Jersey City apartmen…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
News
Ex-Employee Admits Stealing $10M Worth Of HIV Meds From NJ Veterans Hospital Ex-Employee Admits Stealing $10M Worth Of HIV Meds From NJ Veterans Hospital
Ex-Employee Admits Stealing $10M Worth Of HIV Meds From NJ Veterans Hospital A former pharmacy tech admitted stealing nearly $10 million worth of HIV medications from a New Jersey veterans hospital and selling them to a fence from Lyndhurst. Lisa M. Hoffman, 49, of Orange, used her authority to order excessive amounts of medication for the outpatient pharmacy from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in East Orange, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Surveillance cameras helped show how she “placed large orders for HIV medication, purportedly on behalf of the VAMC,” the U.S. attorney said. “After the medications arrived, Hoffman waited until co-worke…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lakewood, NJ
News
Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges
Jersey Shore Wrestling Champ Arrested By FBI On Child Porn Charges A New Jersey state wrestling champion and coach who made national headlines when he revealed that he’s gay was arrested by the FBI Wednesday on child porn charges, federal authorities said. Alec Donovan, 24, of Brick Township also used an app to “solicit and engage in conversations with minors, including requesting nude photographs from the minors and sending nude photographs to them,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Donovan, who records show has coached at the Shorething Wrestling Club in Lakewood, “sent three videos containing images of child sexual abuse and received two vide…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Edison, NJ
News
Ex-Middlesex Officer Admits Recruiting Brothers In Blue For Multi-Million-Dollar Drug Scam Ex-Middlesex Officer Admits Recruiting Brothers In Blue For Multi-Million-Dollar Drug Scam
Ex-Middlesex Officer Admits Recruiting Brothers In Blue For Multi-Million-Dollar Drug Scam A former North Brunswick police officer admitted Monday that he cashed in on a multi-million-dollar health insurance scam by recruiting patients to obtain prescriptions for drugs they didn’t need. Daniel Passafiume, 45, of Monroe took a plea deal from federal prosecutors after an unidentified co-conspirator agreed to cooperate with the government, records show. Passafiume and the accomplice cut deals with pharmacies to collect large commissions for each prescription they delivered for “compounded medications,” including vitamins and pain creams, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
News
Feds: Ex-Con At Morris County Pharmacy Bribed Doc For Prescription Referrals Feds: Ex-Con At Morris County Pharmacy Bribed Doc For Prescription Referrals
Feds: Ex-Con At Morris County Pharmacy Bribed Doc For Prescription Referrals A convicted former Morris County pharmacy employee who lives in Passaic County got prescription referrals by having co-workers deliver bribes in cash, checks and gift cards to a Jersey City doctor, authorities said in bringing a new case against him. Federal agents arrested Srinivasa Raju, 49, of Haskell following an investigation that involved a secret recording -- the same as in a previous case. Raju, formerly of Clifton, had finished serving three years probation following a 2016 conviction for distributing oxycodone without prescriptions. Raju was caught running what state prosecutors …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Police & Fire
‘Patient Brokers' Admit Bribing, Flying NJ Drug Addicts To Cali Rehab Clinics ‘Patient Brokers' Admit Bribing, Flying NJ Drug Addicts To Cali Rehab Clinics
‘Patient Brokers' Admit Bribing, Flying NJ Drug Addicts To Cali Rehab Clinics UPDATE: Two out-of-state men admitted paying “recruiters” to bribe drug addicts in New Jersey to go to rehab centers that they got business from -- some of which were as far as California. Seth Logan Welsh, 26, of Forest Hill, MD, and John C. Devlin, 33, of Baltimore told a U.S. District judge in Trenton via teleconference that they hired a Red Bank bank man, among others, to carry out the scheme so they could collect referral fees from the rehab centers. That man, Peter Costas, paid addicts several thousand dollars to use specific rehab centers in New Jersey and other states -- whether th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Serial Police Impersonator Admits Robbing Two NJ Banks, Posing As Fed Serial Police Impersonator Admits Robbing Two NJ Banks, Posing As Fed
Serial Police Impersonator Admits Robbing Two NJ Banks, Posing As Fed A Hudson County ex-con who served state prison time for impersonating a police officer told a federal judge on Tuesday that he robbed banks in Union City and Elizabeth, tried to rob another in Newark and posed as a federal agent. William Tedeschi, 47, of Jersey City admitted the crimes during a teleconference with a federal judge in Newark in exchange for leniency at a scheduled Oct. 1 sentencing as part of a plea deal with the government. Tedeschi was released from state prison last July after serving 20 months for several convictions of impersonating a police officer in several Hudson Cou…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Police & Fire
‘Patient Broker’ Admits Bribing NJ Addicts To Fly To Cali Rehab Clinics That Paid Him Kickbacks ‘Patient Broker’ Admits Bribing NJ Addicts To Fly To Cali Rehab Clinics That Paid Him Kickbacks
‘Patient Broker’ Admits Bribing NJ Addicts To Fly To Cali Rehab Clinics That Paid Him Kickbacks A Jersey Shore man admitted Wednesday that he bribed drug addicts to enroll in rehab centers -- some in as far away as California -- in order to collect kickbacks. Peter J. Costas, 26, of Red Bank, told a federal judge via teleconference that he paid some addicts several thousand dollars to use specific rehab centers in New Jersey and other states. He and owners of a marketing company that he conspired with arranged for cross-country travel to the drug treatment centers in California and other states, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. In exchange, Carpenito said, the conspirators “could …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes, NJ
Police & Fire
Notorious 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Doc From Bergen Admits Randomly Prescribing Pain Killers, More Notorious 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Doc From Bergen Admits Randomly Prescribing Pain Killers, More
Notorious 'El Chapo Of Opioids' Doc From Bergen Admits Randomly Prescribing Pain Killers, More A Bergen County doctor who became notorious as the “El Chapo of Opioids” admitted in federal court Monday that he randomly wrote prescriptions for oxycodone, Percocet and more with no questions asked and then tried to cover his tracks. Robert Delagente, 45, of Oakland, “knowingly prescribed for his patients some of the most dangerous and addictive drugs available, sometimes with no more contact than a text message from the patient,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said after Delagente pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark to illegally selling the drugs, falsifying records and conspiracy. …

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by Jerry DeMarco