Philly Area Gravestone Salesman Scammed Mourners Out Of $1.5 Million, Feds Say Philly Area Gravestone Salesman Scammed Mourners Out Of $1.5 Million, Feds Say Philly Area Gravestone Salesman Scammed Mourners Out Of $1.5 Million, Feds Say
Philly Area Gravestone Salesman Scammed Mourners Out Of $1.5 Million, Feds Say The owner of a headstone company is accused of ripping off hundreds of grieving customers across greater Philadelphia, federal prosecutors allege in an indictment.  Gregory J. Stefan Jr., 54, of Upper Merion, is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, according to the US Attorney's Office.  Between January 2018 and September of last year, Stefan accepted more than $1.5 million from customers who ordered memorials for loved ones, then failed to deliver the headstones they bought, authorities said. Stefan accepted the orders from nearly 500 customers through his companies 1843 LLC…
'American Ninja Warrior' Champ Drew Drechsel Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes Involving NJ Victim 'American Ninja Warrior' Champ Drew Drechsel Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes Involving NJ Victim 'American Ninja Warrior' Champ Drew Drechsel Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes Involving NJ Victim
'American Ninja Warrior' Champ Drew Drechsel Sentenced For Child Sex Crimes Involving NJ Victim "American Ninja Warrior" champion Drew Drechsel's has fallen from grace and landed in federal prison. Drechsel, 35, who was crowned Total Champion of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior" in 2019, was sentenced last week in Camden Federal Court to 121 months in prison — just more than 10 years — for the charges stemming from child sex crimes that U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said involved a teen victim from New Jersey. "The Real Life Ninja" told investigators he met the victim in 2014, when they were 14 years old through the parkour community as an “American Ninja Warrior.…
Long Island Imposter 'Lawyer' Steals Thousands From Criminal Defendants, Feds Say Long Island Imposter 'Lawyer' Steals Thousands From Criminal Defendants, Feds Say Long Island Imposter 'Lawyer' Steals Thousands From Criminal Defendants, Feds Say
Long Island Imposter 'Lawyer' Steals Thousands From Criminal Defendants, Feds Say He had neither the qualifications nor the intentions to defend them, but a Long Island man successfully conned criminal defendants out of thousands of dollars, federal prosecutors allege. Christopher Reese, age 56, of East Meadow, was indicted on wire fraud and related charges by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York on Monday, June 24. According to prosecutors, Reese spent years falsely claiming to be a “legal assistant” or “paralegal” in order to con federal criminal defendants and their families out of thousands of dollars. Working without supervision from a licensed…
Former Notorious NJ Political Boss George Norcross Indicted For Racketeering Former Notorious NJ Political Boss George Norcross Indicted For Racketeering Former Notorious NJ Political Boss George Norcross Indicted For Racketeering
Former Notorious NJ Political Boss George Norcross Indicted For Racketeering Former New Jersey Democratic kingmaker George E. Norcross III ran a criminal enterprise for nearly a dozen years during which he used his power and influence over elected officials to make laws that best served him, among other offenses, says a state indictment that charges him with racketeering. The poster boy of New Jersey political bosses, Norcross attended a news conference held on Monday, June 17 by state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin in Trenton -- uninvited -- to announce the indictment naming him and five co-defendants. When one of the attorney general's sta…
'Operation Black Diamond': Feds Seek Alleged Philadelphia Fentanyl Trafficker 'Operation Black Diamond': Feds Seek Alleged Philadelphia Fentanyl Trafficker 'Operation Black Diamond': Feds Seek Alleged Philadelphia Fentanyl Trafficker
'Operation Black Diamond': Feds Seek Alleged Philadelphia Fentanyl Trafficker Eleven members of a suspected drug trafficking organization are in custody, federal authorities say.  The group, allegedly headed by 30-year-old Wilfredo Avila, is accused of running "significant quantities" of fentanyl and cocaine throughout Philadelphia's Kensington and Fairhill sections from February 2023 through this month.  The organization also "routinely offered and sold firearms of all kinds to its drug dealer customers," said the US Attorney's Office in a release on Thursday, June 13.  Ten suspects were arrested and one more is awaiting transfer from anoth…
Long Island Trafficker Behind Christmas Day Overdose Death Gets Decades In Federal Prison Long Island Trafficker Behind Christmas Day Overdose Death Gets Decades In Federal Prison Long Island Trafficker Behind Christmas Day Overdose Death Gets Decades In Federal Prison
Long Island Trafficker Behind Christmas Day Overdose Death Gets Decades In Federal Prison A convicted drug trafficker from Long Island will spend decades in prison for selling fentanyl that caused a man’s fatal overdose on Christmas Day. Marlon Thompson, age 42, of Selden, was sentenced to 30 years behind bars in Central Islip federal court on Tuesday, May 21. It followed his December 2022 jury conviction on four counts including conspiracy to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, and being a felon in possession of firearms. According to prosecutors, Thompson sold hard drugs throughout Suffolk County between January 2017 and May 2019. On Dec. 25, 2018, he sold fentanyl to…
Maryland Man Was Beaten To Death By Shovel In Northeast DC: Medical Examiner Maryland Man Was Beaten To Death By Shovel In Northeast DC: Medical Examiner Maryland Man Was Beaten To Death By Shovel In Northeast DC: Medical Examiner
Maryland Man Was Beaten To Death By Shovel In Northeast DC: Medical Examiner An assault in Northeast DC is now being investigated as a homicide following an investigation into an assault last year that left an 81-year-old Maryland man dead. in October 2023, police say that Vincent Hemphill is accused of beating three men with a shovel, one of whom, 81-year-old Clinton resident Charles Short, died from his injuries months later in January. Short's body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy, and on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police Department was notified that the death was determined to be from complications of blunt force …
BUSTED: Reputed Trinitarios Members Living In Fort Lee Charged In Major Drug Ring Takedown BUSTED: Reputed Trinitarios Members Living In Fort Lee Charged In Major Drug Ring Takedown BUSTED: Reputed Trinitarios Members Living In Fort Lee Charged In Major Drug Ring Takedown
Busted: Reputed Trinitarios Members Living In Fort Lee Charged In Major Drug Ring Takedown A trio of Trinitarios street gang members who shared an apartment in Fort Lee slung fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin on both sides of the Hudson River before being busted last week, federal authorities charged. Ernesto Adon Martinez, 38, Luis Arismedy Gomez Torres, 28, and Deury Luis Gomez Torres, 25, drove back and forth "on a near-daily basis" between Fort Lee and an apartment just off Dyckman Street in the Fort George section of Manhattan where drugs were packaged and stashed, they said.The Trinitarios emerged in New York City in the 1990s as protection against rival gangs such as th…
COVID-19: NY Duo Steals $8M From Company Seeking Surgical Masks, Feds Say COVID-19: NY Duo Steals $8M From Company Seeking Surgical Masks, Feds Say COVID-19: NY Duo Steals $8M From Company Seeking Surgical Masks, Feds Say
Covid-19: NY Duo Steals $8M From Company Seeking Surgical Masks, Feds Say Two New York residents are accused of conning a medical supply company out of millions of dollars in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Long Island resident Jonathan Cannon, age 58, of Miller Place, and Erie County resident Julie Dotton, age 51, of Orchard Park, are both charged with wire fraud in a complaint unsealed in Central Islip federal court on Thursday, May 2. According to prosecutors, a Canadian company serving as an official provider of personal protective equipment paid Cannon and Dotton $8.2 million for surgical masks needed due to the pandemic. In exchange, Dotton agreed…
Five Arrested In Philly Man's 2006 Kidnapping, Murder: US Attorney Five Arrested In Philly Man's 2006 Kidnapping, Murder: US Attorney Five Arrested In Philly Man's 2006 Kidnapping, Murder: US Attorney
Five Arrested In Philly Man's 2006 Kidnapping, Murder: US Attorney Nearly 18 years after Shamari Taylor disappeared in Philadelphia, five people are charged in connection with his murder, prosecutors said Thursday.  Kevin Holloway, 45, Mark Scott, 48, Linton Mathis, 50, Atiba Wicker, 47, and Kenneth Tuck, 51, were all arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death, and aiding and abetting, said the US Attorney's Office.  Thirty-eight-year-old Taylor and his girlfriend were kidnapped in West Philadelphia by men posing as police officers on August 26, 2006, officials said in a release.&nb…
Federal Inmate In Pennsylvania Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Officer: USDOJ Federal Inmate In Pennsylvania Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Officer: USDOJ Federal Inmate In Pennsylvania Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Officer: USDOJ
Federal Inmate In Pennsylvania Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Officer: Usdoj A federal inmate in Schuylkill County pleaded guilty to attacking a correctional officer on Monday, April 29, according to prosecutors.  The US Attorney's Office said Carlos Rodriguez-Cruz, 33, punched a guard at FCI Schuylkill in Minersville last Oct. 6.  According to authorities, the guard found a homemade knife or "shank" during a search of Rodriguez-Cruz's cell.  Rodriguez-Cruz, formerly of Puerto Rico, faces up to eight years of imprisonment, supervised release, and a fine.  The guilty plea comes just a week after another FCI Schuylkill inmate pleaded guilty …
Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues
Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A Passaic County correctional officer admitted that he brought an inmate to a "blind spot" at the county jail so two colleagues could beat him for squirting one of them with urine. Officer Lorenzo Bowden, 39, initially agreed with Sgt. Jose Gonzalez and Sgt. Donald Vinales not to talk after they'd received federal grand jury subpoenas two years ago this month, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Bowden eventually had a change of heart. The pretrial detainee was "transported through an area of the PCJ that does not have a video surveillance camera, which correctional officers …