Newark Heroin Distribution ChargesNewark New Jersey police recently nabbed a NY man accused of selling illegal drugs in the Central Ward.

The Newark Police Department dispatched detectives to an apartment building on the 100 block of 1st Street in Newark NJ after receiving a report of someone flashing a firearm. When Newark police officers arrived at the apartment building, they talked to witnesses and learned that the suspect was hiding in a vacant apartment.

The Newark Police Department Emergency Services Unit then sent additional officers to the area and received permission for the officers to enter the apartment. Police allegedly arrested the suspect just as he was trying to exit the apartment through a window.

When Newark cops searched the apartment, they allegedly found an open bag containing two 9mm handguns, 81 glassine envelopes filled with heroin, a sandwich bag with 2.7 grams of heroin, 18 containers of cocaine, 36 Ziploc bags filled with pot, and five prescription Xanax pills. The firearms were reportedly loaded with ammunition.

Newark police officers also allegedly discovered multiple credit cards, New Jersey driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, cell phones, a camera, a ski mask, and cash totaling more than $250.

The suspect is a 22-year-old resident of Staten Island, New York. He has been charged with numerous criminal offenses, including possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, illegal possession of prescription drugs, unlawful possession of a weapon, and criminal trespassing.

For more information about this case, see the NJ.com article, “N.Y. Man Charged After Newark Police Seize Loaded Gun, Drugs.”

Newark Handgun Possession SuspectAn Orange New Jersey man was recently sentenced to eight years in NJ State Prison after being convicted of illegal handgun possession and cocaine possession.

The suspect was placed under arrest on April 29, 2016. He was walking near the intersection of Hickory Street and Taylor Street in Orange when two Orange NJ cops saw him carrying a handgun. The suspect attempted to flee the scene, but the police officers managed to catch up to him.

While being pursued, the suspect threw a .380 Smith and Wesson handgun into a yard. Police later recovered the semi-automatic firearm.

Police also searched the suspect and found him carrying 20 Ziploc bags of crack cocaine.

The suspect, a 28-year-old Orange resident, was charged with numerous crimes, including unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of cocaine, and resisting arrest by flight.

In October 2016, the suspect was convicted by an Essex County Superior Court jury on the charges.

Now the suspect is headed to New Jersey State Prison. He recently made an appearance in Essex County Superior Court in Newark for a formal sentencing hearing, with the judge sentenced him to eight years for the gun crime, four years for the drug offense, and 18 months for resisting arrest. The sentences will run concurrently and the suspect will not be eligible for parole for four years.

For further information about this case, read the NJ.com article, “Man Sentenced for Having Gun, Drugs in Orange.”

Newark Handgun Possession ChargesA Newark New Jersey faces weapons offense charges after he reportedly shot himself on accident.

According to law enforcement, the suspect was walking in the area of North 3rd Street and Hamilton Street in Newark and carrying a handgun when he accidentally shot himself.

After the accidental shooting, the suspect reportedly drove himself to University Hospital so that emergency room doctors could treat him for his wounds. The victim’s condition was stabilized and he was expected to survive his gunshot-related injuries.

Hospital staff members then called the Newark Police Department, which subsequently dispatched cops to the hospital. The suspect told investigators that somebody else shot him on 7th Avenue in Newark, but police later determined that he actually shot himself in a different section of the city.

The suspect is a 52-year-old resident of Newark NJ. He was charged with a weapons offense for illegal possession of a handgun.

If the suspect is convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon, he would face severe penalties. As set forth by N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b), anyone caught illegally in possession of a handgun can be charged with a second degree crime. Second degree felonies in New Jersey carry a potential sentence of 5-10 years in state prison.

To learn more about this case, access the NJ.com article, “Man Shoots Self, Faces Gun Charge After Giving False Story, Police Say.”

West Orange NJ Manslaughter SuspectA West Orange man was recently indicted by Essex County grand jury on manslaughter charges in connection with the killing of a Livingston New Jersey woman.

The suspect is a 33-year-old man from West Orange, New Jersey. He has been accused of fatally strangling the victim at her Livingston NJ home on May 15, 2016. West Orange police officers went to the residence to conduct a welfare check and discovered the victim’s body. The victim was 32 years old when she died.

Detectives with the West Orange Police Department conducted an investigation into the homicide and identified the suspect as the possible culprit. Two days after the homicide, police found the suspect and placed him under arrest.

The suspect was subsequently charged with second degree reckless manslaughter, a criminal charge that carries a possible penalty of 5-10 years in NJ State Prison.

Now the suspect could be headed for trial in Essex County Superior Court after he was indicted on the manslaughter charges.

While the suspect awaits trial, he is being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark New Jersey on a bail amount of $150,000.

For additional information about this case, view the NJ.com article, “N.J. Man Indicted in Livingston Woman’s Strangling Death.”

Newark NJ Weapons Offense ChargesPolice in Newark New Jersey arrested an alleged gang member accused of unlawfully possessing firearms.

According to law enforcement, the suspect had a stolen machine gun and a sawed-off shotgun. Members of a task force found the weapons at the suspect’s residence in Newark and then later apprehended the suspect at an Irvington NJ residence.

The suspect is a 20-year-old Newark man. He faces multiple criminal charges, including unlawful possession of a weapon, aggravated assault, and receiving stolen property. The assault charges arise from the suspect’s alleged involvement in a shooting outside a Newark gas station in October 2016. The theft charges stem from the machine gun seized by police because it was reported stolen out of North Carolina in 2011.

Authorities went to the suspect’s Newark residence to arrest him for the Newark gas station shooting incident. Although the suspect was not there, police conducted a search and allegedly discovered the machine gun and the shotgun hidden beneath the suspect’s bed.

After being arrested and charged, the suspect was taken to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey. He was being held at the jail on a bail amount of $150,000.

For additional information about this case, read the NJ.com article, “Alleged Bloods Gang Member Hid Machine Gun Under His Bed, Authorities Say.”

Shooting at Bloomfield NJ ClubAuthorities temporarily closed the Sports in the City Lounge in Bloomfield New Jersey after a shooting incident left six people with serious injuries.

The restaurant, which is near the border separating Bloomfield from Newark, was shut down after municipal inspectors reportedly found that the business was violating health and fire codes.

Meanwhile, detectives with both the Bloomfield Police Department and the Newark Police Department have been working together to investigate the shooting and determine the identities of the suspects.

Ballistics evidence recovered at the scene of the shooting reportedly indicates that three weapons were used to fire gunshots at up to 40 people inside the lounge. Six of those people were struck by bullets and required emergency medical treatment. The shooting victims include residents of East Orange, Newark, and Roselle.

Investigators are operating under the assumption that the shooter or shooters were targeting someone inside the building.

The restaurant garnered attention from health and safety inspectors in the aftermath of the shooting incident. Now the restaurant has been shut down due to alleged violations of health codes and fire codes.

For additional information about this case, check out the NJ.com article, “30 Shots Fired in N.J. Club Rampage That Wounded 6, Officials Say.”

Newark Airport Drug BustLaw enforcement arrested a man at Newark International Airport after they allegedly found him carrying a large amount of cocaine while walking through the terminal.

The arrest was made at the Newark NJ airport when US customs agents searched the suspect and his bags and reportedly discovered the illegal drugs.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials issued a statement indicating that police officers came across two packages that contained more than five pounds of cocaine. According to authorities, the illicit narcotics had been hidden in a pair of spandex shorts that were placed inside the suspect’s backpack.

Law enforcement later conducted a test of the white substance in the bag and reportedly determined that it was, in fact, cocaine.

Federal officials said that the street value of the illegal drugs was around $78K.

The suspect is a citizen of the Netherlands but will face criminal charges in the U.S. – and, specifically, in Essex County, New Jersey. He was arrested by Port Authority police before being turned over to the custody of the Essex County Police Department.

The suspect has been charged with numerous drug offenses, including possession of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

For further information about this case, go to the NJ.com article, “Flier Hid $78K of Cocaine in Spandex, Airport Officials Say.”

Newark Jail Inmate Fraud ChargesTwo East Orange men are likely headed to prison after entering guilty pleas on federal fraud charges.

The suspects, a 46-year-old male and a 48-year-old male, allegedly conspired with inmates at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The suspects and the inmates allegedly filed false tax returns and told the IRS that the inmates were shorted on their paychecks. The suspects then received larger refund checks and divvied up the stolen money with the inmates.

According to federal prosecutors, the suspects had connections with the inmates because one of the suspects had previously done time in the Newark NJ correctional facility.

In total, the suspects allegedly got away with more than $670,000 before finally being caught.

The suspects could have faced decades in prison, but they reached a plea deal with prosecutors that will result in prison terms of just five years. The U.S. Attorney’s Office offered the favorable plea deal to the suspects in order to avoid a lengthy and costly trial.

The suspects will appear in U.S. District Court in Newark next year so that they can be officially sentenced for their fraud crimes.

For additional information about this case, read the NJ.com article, “Duo Admit Plot to Swindle IRS Out of $670K Using Fake Tax Returns from Inmates.”

Newark New Jersey Criminal AttorneysA Newark New Jersey man pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter charges stemming from a fatal auto accident on a Jersey City road.

The suspect, a 33-year-old man from Newark, is likely on his way to New Jersey State Prison after admitting that he caused a fatal crash in West New York, NJ.

The fatal accident occurred around 8:00 a.m. on February 19, 2016. The suspect was behind the wheel of an SUV and traveling along Van Buren Place in West New York when he hit two pedestrians crossing at the intersection with 61st Street. The victims, a seven-year-old girl and her mom, were on their way to the girl’s school at the time of the accident.

After striking the victims, the suspect stopped his vehicle for a moment but then soon fled the scene without even offering to help. Later, the suspect attempted to hide his involvement in the crash by reporting that his SUV had been stolen prior to the collision.

Police later identified the suspect and placed him under arrest. He was charged with a number of crimes, including vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, endangering an injured victim, and hindering apprehension.

The suspect managed to avoid a trial in Hudson County Superior Court by reaching a plea agreement. In exchange for the suspect pleading guilty to most of the charges, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office agreed to drop the most serious charges of vehicular manslaughter.

For more information about this case, read the NJ.com article, “Newark Man Facing 11 Years for Fatal Hit-and-Run of 7-Year-Old Girl.”

Newark New Jersey Fraud LawyersThree suspects made appearances in a federal courtroom located in Newark New Jersey for a preliminary hearing stemming from federal charges for bank fraud.

The suspects included two real estate brokers and their client. According to law enforcement officials, the suspects participated in a “shotgun” loan scheme to defraud banks out of money. The suspects allegedly used the identities of other individuals and put up various properties as collateral in order to secure home equity lines of credit from numerous banks.

The bank lenders had no idea that the suspects were using the same property to get multiple loans.

The suspects’ alleged scheme eventually raised red flags with lenders, which prompted an investigation into the possible fraud. Investigators reportedly uncovered evidence that the suspects had defrauded banks out of more than $1 million over a three-year period.

The three suspects are a 58-year-old Bronx man, a 62-year-old Yonkers man, and a 65-year-old Ridgefield Park man. All of the suspects face criminal charges for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which could potentially result in prison time.

To learn more about this case, access the NJ.com article, “3 Charged with Stealing Over $1M in Loan Scheme.”