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Confessed NJ/Philly Sex Trafficker Who Beat, Threatened Victims Gets 10 Years, No Early Release Confessed NJ/Philly Sex Trafficker Who Beat, Threatened Victims Gets 10 Years, No Early Release
Confessed NJ/Philly Sex Trafficker Who Beat, Threatened Victims Gets 10 Years, No Early Release UPDATE: A confessed sex trafficker from Philadelphia was sentenced in federal court in New Jersey to 10 years in prison. Mallie M. Evans, 37, must spend at least 8½ years behind bars before he’ll be eligible for release because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Evans “recruited and coerced multiple victims” as prostitutes, shuttling them between Philly and Central and South Jersey, U.S. Attorney For New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. “Evans used fraud, emotional manipulation, physical violence, and threats of death and bodily injury to coerce the victims into engaging in co…
Jersey Shore Man Admits Anti-Semitic Rampage: Running Down Victims, Stabbing, Carjacking Jersey Shore Man Admits Anti-Semitic Rampage: Running Down Victims, Stabbing, Carjacking
Jersey Shore Man Admits Anti-Semitic Rampage: Running Down Victims, Stabbing, Carjacking A Jersey Shore man admitted in federal court on Thursday that he committed a series of violent assaults on members of the Jewish Orthodox community in and around Lakewood. What became a rampage over roughly seven hours began when Dion Marsh, 29, of Manchester, dragged a "visibly identifiable" Orthodox Jew out of his car, beat him and sped off in the victim's vehicle on April 8, 2022, authorities said. Marsh was driving a different car in the heavily Orthodox community hours later when he ran down victims in three separate incidents, attempting to kill each of them, U.S. Attorney for New Jer…
UPDATE: Newark Woman, 21, Cops Plea In Robbery, Shooting Spree UPDATE: Newark Woman, 21, Cops Plea In Robbery, Shooting Spree
Update: Newark Woman, 21, Cops Plea In Robbery, Shooting Spree A 21-year-old Newark woman hoping to avoid an extended federal prison sentence admitted participating in a violent robbery spree in Jersey City last month in which a fast-food clerk was shot in the chest. Siobhan Chandler, was with ex-con Rodney Williams when he robbed a gas station and store at gunpoint and then shot a restaurant clerk during a third holdup the night of Nov. 14. Police captured both of them after Williams, 31, crashed the getaway car during a pursuit a little over an hour after the spree began. Chandler immediately took a pre-indictment deal from the government in exchang…
NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea NO CHOICE: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea
NO Choice: Ex-Con Who Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Takes Guilty Plea UPDATE: There’s no trying to present a defense in court when the prosecutors have a video of you shooting someone, as well as the loaded gun you were carrying when they arrested you. So ex-con Antoine Hawkins, 31, of Newark, took a deal from the government, admitting in federal court in Newark this week that he shot two victims five days apart in the Brick City in August 2020. Hawkins also pleaded guilty to possessing a 9mm Springfield Armory XDM pistol loaded with 19 rounds and 626 heroin folds for sale when they arrested him a month later, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger …
Repeat Child Porn Trafficker From NJ, 65, Gets 10 More Years Without Parole: Feds Repeat Child Porn Trafficker From NJ, 65, Gets 10 More Years Without Parole: Feds
Repeat Child Porn Trafficker From NJ, 65, Gets 10 More Years Without Parole: Feds A 65-year-old convicted child porn trafficker from New Jersey is headed to federal prison for 10 years without parole for going back to it while on supervised release. Hugh Cohen, 65, of Elizabeth, served nearly all of a five-year federal prison sentence for possessing and receiving child pornography in 2010. Supervised release, which was a requirement of his sentence, was to run from the end of October 2014 to the end of October 2021, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. While still on supervised release, from March 28, 2021, to April 24, 2021, Cohen “engaged an undercover agent in an …
Co-Owner Of Two Of Ironbound's Most Popular Portuguese Restaurants Admits $715,780 Tax Fraud Co-Owner Of Two Of Ironbound's Most Popular Portuguese Restaurants Admits $715,780 Tax Fraud
Co-Owner Of Two Of Ironbound's Most Popular Portuguese Restaurants Admits $715,780 Tax Fraud A former 50% owner of two of the most popular Portuguese restaurants in Newark's Ironbound admitted that he cheated the IRS out of $715,780 by paying employees under the table, authorities said. Jorge Fernandes, 76, of West Orange, sold the Iberia Tavern and Iberia Peninsula to a developer for a combined $40 million and closed both restaurants in June amid what turned out to be a federal investigation.  Fernandes "was fully aware of his legal obligation to collect payroll taxes from the restaurants’ employees," U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said, "but instead pa…
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ A dealer who admitted flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke is headed to federal prison for more than a decade. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, of Manhattan must serve out just about all of his plea-bargained 11-year sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Moreno and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Authorities disco…
Murder-For-Hire: NJ Man Get 8 Years, No Parole, For Hiring 'Hit Man' To Whack Ex And Daughter Murder-For-Hire: NJ Man Get 8 Years, No Parole, For Hiring 'Hit Man' To Whack Ex And Daughter
Murder-For-Hire: NJ Man Get 8 Years, No Parole, For Hiring 'Hit Man' To Whack Ex And Daughter A 69-year-old New Jersey man must spend the next eight years in federal prison for paying a purported hit man to kill his ex-wife and her daughter. Michael Stewart of Monroe Township in Middlesex County must serve nearly the entire plea-bargained sentence handed down this week because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Stewart thought he had someone he could trust when he asked for help finding someone he could pay for the killings. He "regularly traveled to Baltimore and used a cellphone while out of state to communicate with the confidential source and others," U.S. Attorney…
GUILTY: Parolee Nabbed By Lyndhurst PD Convicted In NJ, NY Liquor, Convenience Store Holdups GUILTY: Parolee Nabbed By Lyndhurst PD Convicted In NJ, NY Liquor, Convenience Store Holdups
Guilty: Parolee Nabbed By Lyndhurst PD Convicted In NJ, NY Liquor, Convenience Store Holdups A Union County parolee who was nabbed by Lyndhurst police after a months-long armed robbery spree of liquor and convenience stores in two states -- including one in which he fired a handgun -- was convicted by federal jurors in Newark of all 10 counts against him. Vincent Chan-Guillen, 32, had just been paroled from state prison after serving three years for drug and weapons convictions when the holdups began in August 2018. He committed nine altogether over the next three months, four of them at liquor stores in New Jersey and five others at establishments in New York, the U.S. District Co…
PLEA DEAL: 10 Years, No Parole, Awaits Philly Dealer Who Slung Meth In NJ PLEA DEAL: 10 Years, No Parole, Awaits Philly Dealer Who Slung Meth In NJ
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…
Cardiologist Sentenced To Federal Prison Time For Prescribing 8,600 Painkillers For NJ Couple Cardiologist Sentenced To Federal Prison Time For Prescribing 8,600 Painkillers For NJ Couple
Cardiologist Sentenced To Federal Prison Time For Prescribing 8,600 Painkillers For NJ Couple A New Jersey cardiologist is headed to federal prison for 2½ years for illegally prescribing thousands of unnecessary Oxycodone pills for a patient and his wife. Raymond Catania, 60, of Warren, must serve at least two years before being eligible for supervised release because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Catania churned out scripts for 8,600 30mg Oxycodone pills in a little over 14 months from his Watchung office not only for his patient but for the man's wife, as well, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. He did so "without a legitimate medical purpose and outside of…
Romanian National In Maryland Sentenced For Stealing $1M Meant For Religious Institutions Romanian National In Maryland Sentenced For Stealing $1M Meant For Religious Institutions
Romanian National In Maryland Sentenced For Stealing $1M Meant For Religious Institutions A Romanian national will spend years in prison after scheming to steal thousands of checks from religious institutions in Maryland and across the East Coast worth more than $1 million, federal authorities announced. Marius Vaduva, 27, of Hollywood, FL, was sentenced to 42 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, the US Department of Justice said. In addition to his prison sentence, Vaduva was also ordered to pay $1,334,230.84 in restitution. Sentencing was by Theodore Chuang, US District Judge in the District of…
Bean Counter Who Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Bergen Tour Company Sentenced Bean Counter Who Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Bergen Tour Company Sentenced
Bean Counter Who Embezzled Hundreds Of Thousands From Bergen Tour Company Sentenced An accountant from Lyndhurst was sentenced to a plea-bargained 21 months in federal prison for her role in embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a guided tour company she worked for. Ruby Baroni, 55, took a deal from the government rather than face trial – the same as her former manager, Estela Laluf, 76, of River Edge. Laluf was sentenced in April to an agreed-upon 27 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals sentenced Baroni on Thursday to two years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $295,297 in restitution. Between 2010 and 2016, she and Lal…
South Jersey Doc Goes To Federal Prison For Forging $500,000 Worth Of Employer's Checks South Jersey Doc Goes To Federal Prison For Forging $500,000 Worth Of Employer's Checks
South Jersey Doc Goes To Federal Prison For Forging $500,000 Worth Of Employer's Checks A South Jersey doctor was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for stealing more than $500,000 from his previous employer and using it to pay his bills. Walter Sytnik, 35, of Voorhees, forged checks for five years from checks he stole from the medical practice where he worked as a bookkeeper before going to medical school, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Sytnik also opened and maintained credit card accounts at the same banks as the doctor at the medical practice, then forged the doctor’s signature on the stolen checks and paid his credit card bills with them, Sellinger s…
Ex-Chief Lending Officer Of NJ Bank Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For Lying On SBA Loan Ex-Chief Lending Officer Of NJ Bank Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For Lying On SBA Loan
Ex-Chief Lending Officer Of NJ Bank Gets 18 Months In Fed Pen For Lying On SBA Loan A former New Jersey bank chief lending officer from Pennsylvania was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Wednesday for lying to the Small Business Administration, authorities said. James Bortolotti, 53, will have to serve just about all of the term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Bortolotti signed off on an application to the SBA for a guaranteed $3.75 million on $5 million in loans given to a small Robbinsville business by First Choice Bank in Trenton even though he knew the information about the company's credit-worthiness was false, Acting U.S. Attorney for N…
Union County Woman Admits Destroying Evidence In $400,000 COVID Unemployment Scam Union County Woman Admits Destroying Evidence In $400,000 COVID Unemployment Scam
Union County Woman Admits Destroying Evidence In $400,000 COVID Unemployment Scam A Union County woman admitted in federal court that she was shredding bogus credit and debit cards -- obtained by a man who fraudulently collected $400,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits from the state of New York -- when investigators came busting in. Detectives armed with a search warrant found Latoyia McCollum, 46, of Hillside in the kitchen of an undisclosed location "placing what appeared to be a credit/debit card into the shredder" while face-timing on a cellphone in October 2020, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. McCollum told them she was on the phone with Maurice Mills…
Feds: Ex-Lodi HS Teacher Admits Scamming Insurance Out Of $550,000 For Compound Meds Feds: Ex-Lodi HS Teacher Admits Scamming Insurance Out Of $550,000 For Compound Meds
Feds: Ex-Lodi HS Teacher Admits Scamming Insurance Out Of $550,000 For Compound Meds A now-former Lodi High School teacher admitted that he collected $550,000 worth of compound medications through bogus claims to an employee benefit program. Jason Nardachone, 51, of Nutley bribed three other teachers $500 a month each to obtain compounded medications that they, like him, didn’t need, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Some of the unnecessary compounded medications – for vitamins and pain and scar creams -- cost the New Jersey School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP) $3,300 to $22,800 apiece, she said. All told, Nardachone and his accomplices defrauded the…
Disgraced Ex-Dentist From Morris County Takes Guilty Plea In DEA Meth Raid Disgraced Ex-Dentist From Morris County Takes Guilty Plea In DEA Meth Raid
Disgraced Ex-Dentist From Morris County Takes Guilty Plea In DEA Meth Raid A disgraced former dentist who already had a criminal history involving crystal meth admitted having the drug when the DEA raided his Morris County home last year. Frederick Bailey, 61, pleaded guilty via videoconference with a federal judge in Newark to having and conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Federal agents arrested Bailey, of Denville, after finding “methamphetamine and packaging materials throughout the residence” during a January 2020 raid. He already had a criminal history at the time. Local police arrested Bailey in 2016 after…
Hudson Ex-Con Who Shot At Moving Car Headed To Federal Prison For 5 Years, No Parole Hudson Ex-Con Who Shot At Moving Car Headed To Federal Prison For 5 Years, No Parole
Hudson Ex-Con Who Shot At Moving Car Headed To Federal Prison For 5 Years, No Parole A Jersey City ex-con who fired at a moving car is headed to federal prison for a plea-bargained five years, authorities said Tuesday. Jamel Armfield, 20, already had three felony convictions on his record when he squeezed off nine rounds from a .45-caliber Springfield Armory handgun at the vehicle on Gates Avenue last June, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. A nearby surveillance camera captured images of the shooting, she said. Whom Armfield was firing at, and why, were never determined, the U.S. attorney said. He tried to hide the gun, she added, but Jersey City police found it…
Bergen County Con Man Who Lived Large Off $5M Of Victims' Money Gets 51 Months In Fed Pen Bergen County Con Man Who Lived Large Off $5M Of Victims' Money Gets 51 Months In Fed Pen
Bergen County Con Man Who Lived Large Off $5M Of Victims' Money Gets 51 Months In Fed Pen A Bergen County con man bought a new car, joined a private club, gambled big, traveled wide -- and more -- with nearly $5 million that he'd swindled from prospective investors. Now he's headed to federal prison. A U.S. District Court judge in Newark sentenced Matthew O’Callaghan, 43, of Upper Saddle River via videoconference Thursday to a plea-bargained 51 months -- a little over four years -- in a federal penitentiary.O'Callaghan “impersonated two bank executives interested in funding syndicated loans for global companies,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Referring to…
NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen
NJ Con Man Who Swindled Elderly Out Of $2M Headed To Fed Pen A confessed Somerset County con man is headed to federal prison for 6½ years for swindling elderly investors out of $2 million that he used, in part, to pay for his daughter’s college tuition and sorority fees. For nearly a decade, ex-financial advisor Daniel Rivera, 51, told primarily elderly investors that his Robbins Lane Properties was “staffed by experienced real estate professionals, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Rivera promised a “guaranteed monthly income” thanks to a rate of return based on secure investments, she added. The truth, Honig said, was: “Robbins Lane had …
Escaped AC Bank Robber From Philly Headed Back To Fed Pen Escaped AC Bank Robber From Philly Headed Back To Fed Pen
Escaped AC Bank Robber From Philly Headed Back To Fed Pen A convict who escaped from a South Jersey halfway house after serving 10 years of a 12½-year federal prison sentence for robbing an Atlantic City bank was sent back to the slammer on Thursday. Gary Mitchell, 60, forfeited 14 months of "good time" credit, which he must now serve, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Mitchell entered a Commerce Bank branch on North Pennsylvania Avenue in July 2007, handed a teller a note that said "I have a gun" and demanded all hundreds before fleeing with $1,300, authorities said. Captured by the FBI two months later, Mitchell took a plea deal from the gove…
Edgewater Ex-Con Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Laundering $850,000 In Drug Money Edgewater Ex-Con Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Laundering $850,000 In Drug Money
Edgewater Ex-Con Gets 10 Years In Fed Pen For Laundering $850,000 In Drug Money An ex-con from Edgewater is headed to federal prison for 10 years for laundering more than $850,000 in drug money. Bobbie L. Henderson III, 36, was living in the St. Moritz high-rise off Gorge Road when he conspired with others to launder what he thought were proceeds from drug sales, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Henderson was charged in Pennsylvania five years ago with fighting with police who took him into custody after he crashed his car in the middle of a highway and left it there. Rather than go to trial on the money laundering charge, he accepted a deal from the government, wh…
Sussex Dentist Admits Tax Fraud Sussex Dentist Admits Tax Fraud
Sussex Dentist Admits Tax Fraud A Sussex County dentist admitted in federal court in Newark that he filed a false tax return with the IRS. Richard Golembioski, 61, of Vernon failed to report $114,566 in income from his dental practice on the 2012 return, as well as other amounts during the following four tax years, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Rather than go to trial, Golembioski took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to making and subscribing to the single false return, authorities said. U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo scheduled sentencing for March 8. Carpento credited IRS-Criminal Investigatio…
CT Felon Sentenced For Possessing Loaded Rifle CT Felon Sentenced For Possessing Loaded Rifle
CT Felon Sentenced For Possessing Loaded Rifle An area man was sentenced to 37 months in prison for illegally possessing a firearm. Manuel A. Gomez, 31, of Hartford, was sentenced Wednesday, Oct. 28, by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to the prison term which will be followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm. According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 17, 2019, Gomez was involved in a one-car motor vehicle accident in East Hartford, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said.  As East Hartford Police responded to the accident, Gomez r…
Convicted Passaic Murderer Serving 56 Years Gets 6½ More For Running Alien Prostitution Ring Convicted Passaic Murderer Serving 56 Years Gets 6½ More For Running Alien Prostitution Ring
Convicted Passaic Murderer Serving 56 Years Gets 6½ More For Running Alien Prostitution Ring A 41-year-old Passaic convict already sentenced to 56 years in state prison for murders had a 6½-year federal term tacked on by a judge Wednesday for running a statewide prostitution ring of mostly illegal aliens -- while ordering at least three killings. Juan Fredy Hernandez-Zozaya already must spend at least 47½ years in state prison before he’ll be eligible for parole. If he lives until he’s 89 – and makes parole – he’ll then have to complete the entire 6½-year sentence handed down Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark (There’s no parole in the federal prison syst…
Convicted 'Bridgegate' Lane-Closure Figure Resentenced To Less Federal Prison Time Convicted 'Bridgegate' Lane-Closure Figure Resentenced To Less Federal Prison Time
Convicted 'Bridgegate' Lane-Closure Figure Resentenced To Less Federal Prison Time Former Chris Christie senior staffer Bridget Anne Kelly had her “Bridgegate” federal prison sentence reduced Wednesday from 18 to 13 months. Bridget Anne Kelly, 46, had her conviction tossed by a federal appeals court last November for her role in a political-retribution scheme against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. Kelly, the former deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs in Christie’s office, was convicted along with William E. Baroni, 47, formerly the deputy executive director of the Port Authority, in 2016 in what became a massive traffic jam at the Georg…