Wayne Couple Goes To Fed Pen For Buying $4.5M Worth Of Food Stamps At Their Paterson Grocery Wayne Couple Goes To Fed Pen For Buying $4.5M Worth Of Food Stamps At Their Paterson Grocery
Wayne Couple Goes To Fed Pen For Buying $4.5M Worth Of Food Stamps At Their Paterson Grocery A Wayne couple was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday for buying $4.5 million worth of food stamps from customers at a grocery store they managed in Paterson. Ibrahim Zughbi, 67, got 3½ years in a federal penitentiary while his wife, Miriam Zughbi, 63, also of Wayne, was sentenced to two years, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Ibrahim Zughbi previously participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) when he was the owner of Neighborhood Supermarket, a medium-sized grocery store, Honig said. Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SNAP benefits –…
Feds: PA Man Nabbed Collecting 950 Pounds Of Khat At Newark Airport Feds: PA Man Nabbed Collecting 950 Pounds Of Khat At Newark Airport
Feds: PA Man Nabbed Collecting 950 Pounds Of Khat At Newark Airport A Pennsylvania man was arrested by federal agents when he showed up at Newark Airport to collect a half-ton of khat that was flown in by freight container, authorities said. Azeez Adebari, 46, of Harrisburg, was listed as the consignee on a manifest and other documents the claimed the contents as clothing, ground melon and pepper, among other things, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities charged Adebari with conspiring to possess and distribute 430 kilograms (948 pounds) of the illegal drug after taking him into custody at the airport on Monday…
Ramsey Man Admits Embezzling $516,000 From Ridgefield Park Security Firm Ramsey Man Admits Embezzling $516,000 From Ridgefield Park Security Firm
Ramsey Man Admits Embezzling $516,000 From Ridgefield Park Security Firm A Ramsey man who worked at a Ridgefield Park security systems firm told a federal judge that he and an accomplice diverted $516,000 of the company’s money to spend on themselves. Joseph Spaccavento, 41, was an accounts payable manager and assistant controller at the firm, which developed hardware and software for video surveillance, federal authorities said. His accomplice, Melissa Corso, coordinated the collection of customer payments and applied them to invoices, they said. For more than 5 ½ years, the two diverted customer payments to themselves, Spaccavento admitted during a videoconfe…
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 …
Passaic Man, Dominican National In 13-Pound Video-Recorded Coke Bust Sent To Fed Pen Passaic Man, Dominican National In 13-Pound Video-Recorded Coke Bust Sent To Fed Pen
Passaic Man, Dominican National In 13-Pound Video-Recorded Coke Bust Sent To Fed Pen A Passaic man and a Dominican national – both 60 years old – have been sentenced to federal prison terms for their roles in trafficking 13 pounds of cocaine. Cellphone video captured the DEA arrest of Ramon “Rafael” Fabian-Pena in January 2020. A U.S. District Court judge in Newark sentenced Fabian-Pena to 2½ years in federal prison during a videoconference last week, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. On Thursday, the judge sentenced Jose Reyes of the Dominican Republican to nearly six years, she said. Both must serve just about all of their terms because there’s no parole in t…
13 STRIKES: Feds Seize Repeat South Jersey Felon After Gun, Ammo Arrest 13 STRIKES: Feds Seize Repeat South Jersey Felon After Gun, Ammo Arrest
13 Strikes: Feds Seize Repeat South Jersey Felon After Gun, Ammo Arrest A 13-time convicted felon from South Jersey was in federal custody after he dropped a loaded handgun while trying to flee local police on a bicycle, authorities said. Officers responding to a 911 shooting call on March 7 spotted Sharif Hallman, 38, of Carneys Point, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. As they grabbed Hallman, a pistol fell to the ground, she said. The gun had a round in the chamber and an extended magazine with 22 more, Honig said. Hallman has an adult criminal history spanning nearly his entire adult life, federal authorities said. These include convictions for …
FBI Charges Paterson Officers With Civil Rights Violations In Beating Of Arab-American Resident FBI Charges Paterson Officers With Civil Rights Violations In Beating Of Arab-American Resident
FBI Charges Paterson Officers With Civil Rights Violations In Beating Of Arab-American Resident Two Paterson police officers beat a 19-year-old Arab-American man and then lied about it, said federal authorities who charged them with violating the victim's civil rights. Officers Kevin Patino, 29, surrendered to federal agents Tuesday morning and was expected to be followed by Kendry Tineo-Restituyo, 28, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Both are charged with “depriving a victim of his Constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by law enforcement officers and with filing a false police report,” Honig said. ****** IN ADDITION: Passaic County’s prosecu…
Imprisoned Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Orange County, Authorities Say Imprisoned Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Orange County, Authorities Say
Imprisoned Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Orange County, Authorities Say A twice-imprisoned drug dealer from New Jersey admitted he sold the heroin that killed a user from Orange County, authorities said. Shameik "Homeboy" Byrd, age 31, who’s currently serving a state prison sentence, told a federal judge via videoconference in Newark that the death of 25-year-old Kean Cabral of Warwick was caused by heroin from the batch of “Trap Queen” that he’d been selling. State authorities tried to prosecute Byrd and a couple who they said bought the drugs from him and sold some to Cabral in April 2016. They were overruled, however, by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which …
Feds: Imprisoned Paterson Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Warwick, NY Feds: Imprisoned Paterson Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Warwick, NY
Feds: Imprisoned Paterson Dealer Admits Selling Heroin That Killed User From Warwick, NY A twice-imprisoned drug dealer from Paterson admitted he sold the heroin that killed a user from Orange County, NY. Shameik "Homeboy" Byrd, 31, who’s currently serving a state prison sentence, told a federal judge via videoconference in Newark that the death of 25-year-old Kean Cabral of Warwick was caused by heroin from the batch of “Trap Queen” that he’d been selling. State authorities tried to prosecute Byrd and a couple who they said bought the drugs from him and sold some to Cabral in April 2016. They were over-ruled, however, by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which said they didn’t ha…
Feds: Wyckoff Man Busted Using Dead Brother's Identity To Get COVID Relief Loan Feds: Wyckoff Man Busted Using Dead Brother's Identity To Get COVID Relief Loan
Feds: Wyckoff Man Busted Using Dead Brother's Identity To Get COVID Relief Loan A Bergen County man stole his dead brother’s identity to get a $150,000 COVID economic disaster loan, said federal authorities who arrested him Thursday. Nathanael Zimmerman, 40, of Wyckoff also orchestrated a mortgage fraud scheme among applicants for Federal Housing Administration-FHA insured loans, submitting bogus bank statements and collecting a portion of the proceeds, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. The loans defaulted and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development lost more than $300,000, she said. Last year, Zimmerman used his deceased brother’s personal iden…
Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark
Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Surveillance video shows one of two shootings that federal authorities say were committed by a Newark ex-con who was caught with a loaded gun and 626 heroin folds. The victims were shot five days apart last August by Antoine Hawkins, a 31-year-old repeat offender with an extensive criminal record, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Police nabbed Hawkins a month later and found him carrying a 9mm Springfield Armory XDM pistol loaded with 19 rounds, the U.S. attorney said. A warranted search of his home turned up the heroin, as well as three 9mm magazines, she said. Hawkins, who ha…
Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Groped By NY Man With Criminal History, Feds Charge Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Groped By NY Man With Criminal History, Feds Charge
Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Groped By NY Man With Criminal History, Feds Charge An upstate New York man groped a fellow passenger on a flight from Denver to Newark, federal authorities charged. Ryan Manuella, 28, of Erie County “moved to a vacant center seat next to a female passenger, who was sitting in a window seat” late last week, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Monday. Honig said Manuella, who didn't know the woman, then “touched her on the groin and inner thigh without her permission,” Honig said. Manuella was charged in Nevada last year with a domestic violence assault, record show. The Cheektowaga resident also got into a struggle in 2017 with…