Marlton-Evesham, NJ
News
SURPRISE! NYC Man Sent Penis Pics, Drove To NJ Motel For Sex With Underage 'Girl,' Feds Charge SURPRISE! NYC Man Sent Penis Pics, Drove To NJ Motel For Sex With Underage 'Girl,' Feds Charge
Surprise! NYC Man Sent Penis Pics, Drove To NJ Motel For Sex With Underage 'Girl,' Feds Charge Federal agents arrested a Bronx man who they said drove nearly 75 miles Wednesday to a South Jersey motel for what he thought would be sex with a 13-year-old girl after sending “her” penis pics. Eduardo Silva, 42, didn’t know that he’d actually been texting and chatting online with an undercover federal agent and not an underage girl, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. Silva asked whether the purported minor was “into older guys” while “discussing his intent to travel and engage in sexual activity” after reaching out on a social media app, Carpenito said. “He also sent sexually explicit images…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Jersey City, NJ
Police & Fire
Indictment: Union City Man Pressured Child Into Sending Sex Pics, Then Shared Them On Facebook Indictment: Union City Man Pressured Child Into Sending Sex Pics, Then Shared Them On Facebook
Indictment: Union City Man Pressured Child Into Sending Sex Pics, Then Shared Them On Facebook A Union City man who authorities said pressured a child into sending him sexually explicit images that he then shared on Facebook was indicted by a federal grand jury in Newark. Ramon Zelaya, 36, also “used Facebook to conspire with an individual in the Dominican Republic to sexually abuse the individual’s minor child, create images of that abuse and send the images to Zelaya, who then distributed the images among various Facebook accounts he controlled,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Zelaya, “representing himself as a teenaged boy, used Instagram communications to persuade a child to…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held
Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held A judge ordered that a Newark ex-con remain in federal custody after Essex County prosecutor’s detectives said they found a loaded gun in his pocket and 626 heroin folds in his apartment. Antoine Hawkins, a 31-year-old repeat offender with an extensive criminal record, also had three illegal ammunition magazines in his apartment, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Prosecutor’s detectives approached Hawkins earlier this week while investigating a shooting from last month, Carpenito said. As they spoke with him, they noticed “what appeared to be the imprint of a firearm on Hawkins’s jacket,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
Police & Fire
Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes
Morris County Couple Admit Ducking $261,758 In Federal Income Taxes A Morris County couple who owned and operated construction businesses admitted in federal court in Newark that they stiffed the government out of $261,758 in income tax payments. Roger Magill, 50, of Wharton admitted using a bogus ID to cash checks from Reliable Construction (also known as Reliable Paving) and Hackensack Pavers between 2014 and 2016, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Ruby Magill, also 50, meanwhile, admitted that she helped her husband out by “allowing him to deposit his hidden income into business bank accounts that she operated and controlled,” Carpenito said. U.S. Dis…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Cliffside Park-Edgewater, NJ
Police & Fire
Feds Pursue Bank Accounts, Mansion Bought By Bergen Lawyer With $9M In COVID Relief Funds Feds Pursue Bank Accounts, Mansion Bought By Bergen Lawyer With $9M In COVID Relief Funds
Feds Pursue Bank Accounts, Mansion Bought By Bergen Lawyer With $9M In COVID Relief Funds Federal authorities have moved to seize 11 bank accounts, an investment account and a million-dollar Cresskill home bought by a Cliffside Park lawyer accused of scamming lenders out of $9M intended for small businesses crippled by COVID-19. Jae H. Choi, 48, got the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds from three lenders on behalf of non-existent businesses that he claimed provided educational services, an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges. Choi fabricated the existence of hundreds of employees, manipulated bank and tax records, and falsified a d…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Englewood, NJ
News
Former Tenafly Marble, Granite Company Prez Admits Conning Bank Out Of $17 Million Former Tenafly Marble, Granite Company Prez Admits Conning Bank Out Of $17 Million
Former Tenafly Marble, Granite Company Prez Admits Conning Bank Out Of $17 Million A former marble and granite wholesaler from Tenafly admitted in federal court on Tuesday that he cooked the books, among other deceits, in a $17 million bank fraud. Rajendra Kankariya, 61, pleaded guilty by videoconference via teleconference to his role in the scheme, during which the government said accomplices posed as customers to secure a $17 million line of credit that his company defaulted on. Kankariya was president and part owner of Lotus Exim International Inc. (LEI), which fraudulently got the line of credit and then had it extended by fabricating or inflating many of the accounts…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Franklin Township, NJ
News
NJ Man Who Vowed To Shoot Pro-Israel Demonstrators, Bomb Trump Tower Admits Supporting Hamas NJ Man Who Vowed To Shoot Pro-Israel Demonstrators, Bomb Trump Tower Admits Supporting Hamas
NJ Man Who Vowed To Shoot Pro-Israel Demonstrators, Bomb Trump Tower Admits Supporting Hamas A Somerset County man who told Instagram followers he was wanted to shoot or run down pro-Israel demonstrators and bomb Trump Tower admitted Tuesday that he secretly supported Hamas. Jonathan Xie, 21, of Basking Ridge admitted during a video conference with a federal judge in Trenton that he wired $100 via Moneygram to a purported member of the Al-Qassam Brigades, a faction of Hamas that has conducted suicide bombings and other attacks on civilians inside Israel, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. “Just donated $100 to Hamas,” Xie posted to his Instagram account. “Pretty sure it was illega…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
News
Feds: South Jersey Gym Bomber Had Body Armor, Rifle, Lots Of Explosive Materials, Instructions Feds: South Jersey Gym Bomber Had Body Armor, Rifle, Lots Of Explosive Materials, Instructions
Feds: South Jersey Gym Bomber Had Body Armor, Rifle, Lots Of Explosive Materials, Instructions A South Jersey man charged with setting off a bomb outside a nearby gym last month had a "substantial" amount of bomb-making materials along with instructions, body-armored tactical vests and more, federal authorities said Friday. Surveillance video shows Dwayne A. Vandergrift Jr., 35, placing an explosive device on the front door of GCity Crossfit Gym near his home in Gloucester City and running away around 4 a.m. Aug. 26, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The bomb detonated, knocking out the front door and shattering its glass, Carpenito said. Federal and local law enforcement officers…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hamilton Township, NJ
Police & Fire
Major Dealer In Violent Trenton Drug Crew Headed To Fed Pen For Plea-Bargained 13 Years Major Dealer In Violent Trenton Drug Crew Headed To Fed Pen For Plea-Bargained 13 Years
Major Dealer In Violent Trenton Drug Crew Headed To Fed Pen For Plea-Bargained 13 Years A confessed member of a violent "war ready" Trenton drug-dealing crew must spend more than 13 years in federal prison for his role in a massive heroin trafficking operation. Omar “Stacks” Council, 41, is the latest of 23 defendants to take guilty pleas in exchange for leniency when he admitted participating in a trafficking network that flooded the streets of the state capital with heroin and other drugs amid shootouts with rival gang members Council -- also known as "Snow" and "Y-O" -- must serve out the entire 160-month plea-bargained sentence because there’s no parole in the federal pris…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Cliffside Park-Edgewater, NJ
Police & Fire
NJ: Cliffside Park Lawyer Created Fake Companies, Got $9 Million In COVID Loans, Bought Mansion NJ: Cliffside Park Lawyer Created Fake Companies, Got $9 Million In COVID Loans, Bought Mansion
NJ: Cliffside Park Lawyer Created Fake Companies, Got $9 Million In COVID Loans, Bought Mansion A Cliffside Park lawyer scammed lenders out of $9M in COVID-relief loans by creating records for bogus businesses he claimed to control, then spent the money on a $1 million home in Cresskill and millions more in stock market investments, authorities charged. Jae H. Choi, 48, “fabricated the existence of hundreds of employees, manipulated bank and tax records, and falsified a driver’s license on the applications,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Choi told the lenders that he paid $3 million in monthly wages to hundreds of employees in the non-existent companies, Carpenito said. Lenders…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Jersey City, NJ
News
Union County Woman Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Dealing Pounds Of Meth From JC Storage Unit Union County Woman Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Dealing Pounds Of Meth From JC Storage Unit
Union County Woman Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Dealing Pounds Of Meth From JC Storage Unit A Union County woman was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday for selling meth by the pound from a Jersey City self-storage facility. Lorena Marquez, 48, of Union Township, must serve all of the plea-bargained sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Federal and local authorities investigating drug trafficking in North Jersey seized nearly two pounds of crystal meth from the storage unit and arrested Marquez. She, in turn, pleaded guilty to selling the drug in exchange for leniency. U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Marquez via videoconfe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Newark Ex-Con Caught With 3,151 Heroin Folds, 455 Crack Vials, Gun Must Do 7½ Years In Fed Pen Newark Ex-Con Caught With 3,151 Heroin Folds, 455 Crack Vials, Gun Must Do 7½ Years In Fed Pen
Newark Ex-Con Caught With 3,151 Heroin Folds, 455 Crack Vials, Gun Must Do 7½ Years In Fed Pen An ex-con from Newark must spend the next 7½ years in federal prison after city police caught him with 3,151 heroin folds, 455 crack vials and a loaded gun. Terrance Bradley, 28, must serve the entire plea-bargained sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Newark police were watching as Bradley sold drugs near a Renner Avenue residence on Dec. 6, 2018, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Armed with a search warrant, they raided the home the next day and found the drugs, a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol and $6,000 in suspected proceeds in Bradley’s bedroom, Carpeni…

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by Jerry DeMarco