Colorado/Las Vegas Drug Dealers Sentenced For Trafficking Heroin Seized in Secaucus Hotel

TRENTON

– Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a Colorado man was sentenced to prison today after being convicted at trial of trafficking 31 kilograms of heroin seized from his hotel

room in Secaucus by the New Jersey State Police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Anthony R. Koon, 58, of Pueblo, Colo., was sentenced today to 10 years in state prison, including over three years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Arre in Hudson County. Koon was found guilty on June 25, 2019, by a Hudson County jury of charges of first-degree possession of heroin with intent to distribute, second-degree conspiracy, and third-degree possession of heroin. Koon’s state sentence will be consecutive to a nine-year federal prison sentence Koon is currently serving as the result of a drug conviction in U.S. District Court in Illinois.

Koon’s co-defendant, Alan A. Alderman, 74, of Las Vegas, Nev., was sentenced on Dec. 13, 2019 to five years in state prison by Judge Arre. Alderman was tried with Koon in June, but the jury in that trial was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on Alderman. Alderman was retried and was found guilty on Oct. 10, 2019 of second-degree conspiracy to distribute heroin and third-degree possession of heroin.

Deputy Attorneys General Omari Reid and Heather Hausleben tried Koon for the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. DAG Reid and Deputy Attorney General Amy Sieminski tried Alderman in October. DAG Reid handled the sentencing hearing today for Koon. The trial teams were assisted by Deputy Attorney General Sarah Brigham of the DCJ Appellate Bureau. The men were indicted in an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Violent & Organized Crime Control Bureau Trafficking North Unit and DEA’s New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, Group T-42. The New York Drug Enforcement Task Force comprises agents and officers of the DEA, New York City Police Department, and the New York State Police.

“The 31 kilograms of heroin seized in this case represent tens of thousands of doses of heroin that would have fueled addiction, misery and death if the DEA Task Force and New Jersey State Police had not interceded,” said Attorney General Grewal. “I commend the prosecutors in our Division of Criminal Justice who secured these verdicts and prison sentences, as well as all of the members of law enforcement who investigated. We are fighting the opioid epidemic on all fronts in New Jersey, expanding prevention and treatment strategies while aggressively prosecuting criminals like Koon and Alderman who traffic opioids into our communities.”

“We will continue to work with the New Jersey State Police, DEA, and our other law enforcement partners to target the major suppliers of opioids who are ruthlessly profiting from addiction in New Jersey,” said Director Veronica Allende of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Interstate drug trafficking demands an interstate response, and this collaborative, multi-jurisdictional investigation is a great example of how we target this type of criminal organization.”

“The fact that troopers and detectives were able to prevent such a massive quantity of heroin from hitting the streets is a victory in and of itself, because somewhere among the thousands of doses seized was one that would claim a life or send another spiraling out of control, consumed by addiction,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan of the New Jersey State Police. “We are committed to combating the opioid epidemic through collaborative investigations and by continuing to focus our efforts on prevention through education.”

“Drug trafficking investigations have uncovered numerous means and methods used by criminal organizations to transport illicit drugs into our communities and homes,” said Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan of the DEA New York Division. “This sentencing is the final step in bringing to justice two traffickers responsible for delivering 31kilograms of heroin into our backyard. I applaud our partners in the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General for their dogged efforts in this investigation.”

New York State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett said, “As a result of interagency coordination and commitment among our law enforcement partners, two dangerous drug traffickers have been brought to justice. Heroin and other drugs perpetuate a cycle of addiction and criminal behavior which in turn threatens the safety and security of our neighborhoods. I want to thank our members and law enforcement partners for their tenacious dedication to tracking illegal drugs and intercepting them at their source before they can be distributed on our streets.”

The defendants were arrested on Feb. 1, 2016, after NYDETF Group T-42 developed information that a gold-colored Mercedes Benz linked to a large-scale narcotics trafficking organization had traveled from New York to a hotel in Secaucus, N.J. NYDETF Group T-42 enlisted the New Jersey State Police Trafficking North Unit to assist them in the investigation. The joint investigation revealed that several members of the narcotics network had traveled to Secaucus that day to meet and exchange heroin.

Initially, two men were stopped in a minivan after they left the parking lot of the hotel, where they were seen meeting with the occupant or occupants of the gold Mercedes. Those men, Oscar R. Felix, 42, of Menifee, Calif., and John M. Ulloa, 38, of Bronx, N.Y., were linked through further investigation to Alderman, who was determined to be staying at the hotel. Alderman and Koon, who was staying with Alderman, were arrested inside the hotel, where investigators discovered two gym bags secured with locks in a closet of their hotel room. Investigators executed a search warrant for the hotel room the following day and discovered 31 kilograms of heroin in the gym bags. They also found $14,300 in U.S. currency wrapped in black electrical tape when they executed a search warrant for Koon’s Jeep.

Felix and Ulloa pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy to distribute heroin and each man was sentenced on Dec. 11, 2017 to six years in state prison.

Defense Attorneys:

For Koon

: Michael R. Shulman, Esq., Jersey City, N.J.

For Alderman:

Assistant Deputy Public Defender Andre Vitale, Hudson County.

King of Prussia Man Indicted for Traveling to the Philippines to Have Sex with Kids

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Craig Alex Levin, 64, of King of Prussia, PA was charged by Indictment with child exploitation offenses related to his travel to the Philippines. The Indictment was filed in December 2019 and unsealed today. The defendant is currently in custody in the Philippines and awaiting deportation back to the United States.

Levin was originally charged through a Criminal Complaint and Warrant in July 2019. The Indictment unsealed today alleges that the defendant used the internet to persuade, induce, entice and coerce a child into sex trafficking (count one), and that he travelled internationally from the United States to the Philippines for the purposes of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minor children (count two).

“As alleged in the Indictment, the defendant is a dangerous predator who targeted vulnerable children in a foreign country. This is reprehensible,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Indeed, at the time of the defendant’s arrest last year in the Philippines, he was escorting a 15 year-old girl to his hotel room. Holding child sexual offenders accountable, no matter where they prey on children, will continue to be a top priority of my Office and the entire Department of Justice.”

“Craig Levin felt safe in the Philippines. He traveled there repeatedly, stayed for months at a time, and sexually exploited numerous underage girls, as alleged,” said Tara A. McMahon, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “If Mr. Levin thought no one in the U.S. would know or care about the abuse because it took place on the other side of the world, he was badly mistaken. Child sexual exploitation is abhorrent anywhere, and the FBI won’t hesitate to go after these offenders wherever we find them. Protecting vulnerable underage victims and aggressively investigating predators who prey on them continues to be one of the FBI’s highest priorities.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division\’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit

www.projectsafechildhood.gov

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of lifetime imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of ten years, lifetime supervised release, a $500,000 fine, and an additional $10,000 mandatory special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Velez.

An indictment, information, or criminal complaint is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

CNB Hunting/Fishing MD: Hunters Harvest nearly 80,000 Deer during 2019-2020 Season

Final Harvest Numbers Higher than the Previous Season

Photo by Steve Edwards

The

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

reported that deer hunters harvested 79,457 de,er during the combined archery, firearms, and muzzleloader seasons, from Sept. 6, 2019 through Jan. 31, 2020.

The statewide harvest included 29,233 antlered and 46,777 antlerless white-tailed deer, plus 1,552 antlered and 1,895 antlerless sika deer. The harvest was 3% higher than the 2018-2019 total of 77,382 deer.

Hunters harvested more than 5,000 deer on Sundays.

Hunting deer on Sunday

is only permitted during certain weeks in 20 of Maryland’s 23 counties.

Many factors affect the annual deer harvest, including weather, the amount of natural food available to deer, and the economy as it relates to recreational time available.

“We are pleased with the results of this year’s overall deer harvest,”

Wildlife and Heritage Service

Director Paul Peditto said. “Maryland’s deer population remains very healthy, and deer hunters continue to play the most critical role in the management of this important species.”

The harvest in deer management

Region A

(Western Maryland) decreased 12%, from 9,705 deer last year to 8,534 this year. Poor weather conditions on key hunting days contributed to the region’s harvest decline. Hunters in the western counties reported 5,056 antlered and 3,478 antlerless deer.

Hunters in

Region B

— the remainder of the state — harvested 70,923 deer, up 5% from 67,677 deer harvested last year. A total of 25,729 antlered and 45,194 antlerless deer were reported in this region.

Frederick County led the harvest totals again this year with 6,358 deer, followed by Carroll County with 5,553 and Baltimore County at 4,969. Garrett and Washington counties rounded out the top five with 4,607 and 4,041 deer, respectively.

Lowell M. McCown, Marcus S. Mackroy-Davis, Zahire N. Williams Indicted for Burlington City Murder

(Left to right) Lowell M. McCown, Marcus S. Mackroy-Davis, Zahire N. Williams

MOUNT HOLLY, NJ (February 20, 2020)–Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that three men have been indicted for the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old Burlington City resident late last year.

Zahire N. Williams, 20, of Burlington City, Marcus S. Mackroy-Davis, 23, of Westampton, and Lowell M. McCown, 20, of Philadelphia were indicted on charges of Murder (First Degree) and Conspiracy (First Degree).

Williams, who is accused of being the shooter, was indicted on additional charges of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (Second Degree), Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Second Degree) and Aggravated Assault (Third Degree). Mackroy-Davis was also indicted on one count of Obstructing the Administration of Law (Fourth Degree).

The indictment was returned February 13 and signed by First Assistant Prosecutor Philip S. Aronow. An arraignment is scheduled for March 9 in Superior Court. Williams and Mackroy-Davis were detained and lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly.

The trio is charged with killing Kion Edwards the morning of November 10 on York Street in the city’s Historic Yorkshire neighborhood. The investigation revealed that Edwards was standing outside with acquaintances when the three defendants drove by and Williams fired shots in the group’s direction, striking only Edwards.

The defendants are being prosecuted by BCPO Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Hutchinson. The case was investigated by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the City of Burlington Police Department. The lead investigators are BCPO Det. Erica Ridge and City of Burlington Police Department Det. Jamie Lambing.

An indictment is an accusation. Defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.

Pennsylvania Meth Ring Busted, 32 Arrested

ALTOONA― Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced the arrest of 32 individuals for the sale and distribution of methamphetamine in Blair County. This law enforcement action is the result of wiretaps and a year-long

grand jury

investigation into a drug trafficking network between Philadelphia and Blair counties which authorized the arrest of 17 individuals including the Philadelphia sources of methamphetamine and Blair County’s upper and mid-level dealers.

Beyond the 17 arrested as a result of the grand jury, additional investigation led to the arrest of 15 more people who are alleged to have been connected to the larger drug organization.

In confiscations conducted over one week in October 2019 alone, the West Drug Task Force seized approximately 12,000 doses of meth totaling over $300,000. This represents the largest seizure of methamphetamine destined for Blair County in the County’s history. The grand jury determined that deliveries of a similar size occurred once every 7 to 10 days; in one year, the meth ring trafficked well over 94,000 doses worth approximately $2,500,000.

“Blair County and much of rural Pennsylvania is suffering under the drug crisis being fueled by organizations like those taken down today,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “These individuals sold thousands of dollars in addictive, life-altering drugs, sometimes in the presence of children. They did not consider how their actions would ravage the lives of their loved ones, their neighborhoods, communities like Altoona, Hollidaysburg, and East Freedom, and families all across Pennsylvania.

Departments involved include:

The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, Altoona Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, State College Police Department, Patton Township Police Department, Ferguson Township Police Department, and Logan Township Police Department.

Those arrested today include:

Adrian Speedwell, Nichole Merkerson-Beale, and Ricardo Cade, all of Philadelphia; Terry Bookwalter of Mapleton Depot, Mark Watson of Huntingdon,Tituscott Potts of Hollidaysburg, and Jennifer Strayer of East Freedom; Carlos Custalow Jr., Khalil Graham, Elroy Wise, Shawn Jackson, Kimberly Riggleman, Darwin Herring Sr., Troy Hicks, William Snyder II, Aleeta Queen-Dively, Barbara Bordell, Gerell Shepard, Jenna Raia, Kenneth Roberson, Justin Spanik, Rashelle Summers, Tyler Hetrick, Michael Fletcher, Gregory Betar II, Tiffany Mills, Michael Lowe, Effiann Potts, Scott Redfield, Robert Stanley, Darien Banks, and Rashawn Atkinson, all of Altoona.

The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

New Jersey Man Charged With Coercing And Enticing Commercial Sex Workers

NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey man who allegedly lured commercial sex workers to travel from out of state to engage in prostitution and other sexual acts by use of force, violence and threats in and around Middlesex County, New Jersey, appeared in court February 19, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Jose Torres, 42, is charged by complaint with two counts of coercion and enticement. The defendant is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelly in Boston federal court. Torres was arrested on Feb. 14, 2020, in Boston.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From May 2015 to October 2019, Torres persuaded, induced and enticed commercial sex workers to travel from various out of state locations, including Canada and New York, in order to engage in prostitution. Torres lured commercial sex workers to New Jersey with promises of large payments. When the commercial sex workers asked for payment, Torres became aggressive, often assaulting and raping them. Torres never paid the sex workers.

The coercion and enticement charges each carries a maximum term of 20 years’ imprisonment and a potential $250,000 fine.

The charges and allegations in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emma Spiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Violent Crimes Unit in Newark.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark; special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian Michael; the Middlesex County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Christopher L. C. Kuberiet; and the Peabody, Massachusetts, Police Department, under the direction of Chief Thomas Griffin, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The charges and allegation in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Research Shows Rifles and Shotguns Used More Often in Youth and Rural Suicides

Newswise — The researchers say their findings, published Feb. 3 in

Injury Epidemiology

suggest that adopting safety measures for rifles or shotguns may prevent suicides, particularly among young people and rural-area residents.

“Our goal as clinicians at Johns Hopkins Medicine is to save lives, and it’s concerning to see that it’s not just handguns, but long guns that are used commonly in youth suicide,” says

Paul Nestadt, M.D.,

assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Many of the safety protections that we have in place around the country typically don’t apply to long guns, and the data suggest that our strategy needs to be modified.”

In many states, there is no minimum age for owning long guns, and federal background checks are only required if buying from a licensed gun dealer. Requirements for permits and safety courses for rifles vary from state to state.

The public has long thought that handguns are more responsible for human deaths, including suicides, than long guns such as rifles and shotguns, which have been believed to be more commonly used for hunting or protection from wild animals. But now, in an analysis of data from 16 years of gun suicides in Maryland, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers found that long guns were used more often in suicides by kids and teens than by adults, and were more commonly used in suicide by people in rural counties.

The data analysis reviewed 3,931 gun suicides in Maryland from 2003 to 2018. About 45% of children and teens used long guns to die by suicide, compared to 20% of adults over age 65 who used long guns. The researchers found that 52% of rural firearm suicides were by long gun, compared to 17% in urban counties. Using rifles for suicide increased by 60% during hunting season, when researchers say rifles may be out and more available.

“In the midst of a suicidal impulse, a person will use what they have. Firearms are particularly lethal. If one is easily available, that will be the method of choice,” says Nestadt. “Holidays and hunting season are times when many young people receive hunting rifles as gifts, and I would advise family members to also provide gun locks or gun storage cabinets with their present. Just adding an extra protective step could be enough of a barrier to protect their family member from making an impulsive decision.”

Additional authors on the study are Kevin MacKrell, Alexander McCourt and Cassandra Crifasi of Johns Hopkins, and David Fowler, formerly Maryland’s chief medical examiner.

Support for the study came from the James Wah Fund for Mood Disorders.

The authors don’t declare any conflicts.

SEE ORIGINAL STUDY

Low-Life Hoodlums Throw Fireworks at Home of 94-Year-Old Brooklawn Resident

Fireworks explode in front of Yvonne Spadora\’s home in the 100 unit block of Chestnut Street, Brooklawn. According to police the fireworks were thrown from two moving vehicles. (image courtesy of

FoxNews29)

by CNBNews Staff

BROOKLAWN, NJ–(February 19, 2020)–Long-time Brooklawn resident

Yvonne

Spadora was the victim of mean spirited hoodlums, according to

FoxNews 29 report

Surveillance video (see below) shows two explosions outside of Mrs. Spadora around 10PM Saturday, February 15. The 94-year-old woman, who was asleep at the time of the incident, has lived in her Brooklawn

residence

since 1957.

According to police, the fireworks were thrown from two moving cars.

Brooklawn police said the explosions started a fire in a bush outside of Spadora\’s home. Police woke up Spadora as a neighbor used a hose to put out the fire.

“After I knocked on the door, it was hard for her to even get to the door, so if the house caught on fire God forbid anything could have happened to her. We were just seconds away from a catastrophe,\” Brooklawn Police investigator Raymond McKenney said.

Police said they think one of the cars is a dark color Dodge Charger. Police don\’t believe Spadora was targeted.

If you have any information, please contact investigator Mckenney at 856-456-0750, ext. 171 or email rmckenney@brooklawnpolice.com Tips may also be submitted anonymously at 856-456-0750, ext. 180 or via email at tips@brooklawnpolice.com.

TO VIEW SECOND VIDEO CLICK HERE

The Father of the Boy Who Shot Himself Charged

Andrew Mack

MOUNT HOLLY, NJ (February 19, 2020)–Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Pemberton Township Police Chief David H. Jantas announced that the father of a 4-year-old boy who died earlier this month from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound in the family’s Browns Mills home has been charged in connection with the death.

Andrew Mack, 31, was charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Second Degree) and Storage of Firearms if Minors May Have Access (Disorderly Persons).

Mack is scheduled for a first appearance in Superior Court in Mount Holly tomorrow afternoon. The case will then be prepared for presentation to a Burlington County Grand Jury for possible indictment.

Emergency medical technicians and officers from the Pemberton Township Police Department were called to the family’s home on Maricopa Trail just after 7 p.m. on February 7 and discovered Lincoln Mack with a gunshot wound to his cheek. He was transported to Capital Health at Deborah – Emergency Services, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 8 p.m.

The investigation revealed that Andrew Mack was asleep in a bedroom with a loaded 9mm handgun next to him on the bed when Lincoln came into the room and took the firearm. Lincoln then went into another room where he had been playing with this younger sister and shot himself in the face.

“The death of Lincoln Mack was a tragedy, and it was made all the worse by the fact that it was entirely avoidable,” Prosecutor Coffina said. “Our deepest sympathies are with the Mack family and all of those who loved Lincoln, however, the defendant must be held accountable for not securing his firearm.”

Both of Lincoln’s parents were inside the home at the time of the shooting, as were two siblings.

The incident was investigated by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Pemberton Township Police Department. The lead investigators are BCPO Det. Erica Ridge and Pemberton Township Police Detective Tom Lucas.

All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

GOV. WOLF CALLS FOR BAN ON ALL GHOST GUNS

By Dave Fidlin |

The Center Square

HARRISBURG PA–A Pennsylvania policy less than a month old pertaining to the background requirements needed in the sale of so-called ghost guns remains on ice following a state judge’s recent ruling.

Judge Kevin Brobson of the Commonwealth Court issued a preliminary injunction Jan. 31 to state police on selling partially manufactured gun frames after reviewing a case filed by four petitioners: Firearms Policy Coalition, Landmark Firearms, Polymer80 and U.S. Rifle.

“The crux of this case is a perceived change in the Pennsylvania State Police’s interpretation of the term ‘firearm’ within the context of the Uniform Firearms Act,” Brobson wrote in

a memorandum opinion

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, meanwhile, called for an outright ban on ghost guns in his budget proposal unveiled this week, along with a host of

other gun control measures

“I know there is no law that can eliminate every act of gun violence,” Wolf said during his budget address. “But the steps I\’m proposing are supported by the evidence and supported by the vast majority of Pennsylvanians. We can pass them tomorrow.\”

Brobson, throughout his 17-page analysis, expressed concern with the state police’s policy around the partially manufactured gun frames, which have been used to make actual rifles and pistols.

The injunction came weeks after state policy issued guidance to gun dealers on how background checks should be performed when sales of ghost guns are transacted. The devices are also referred to at times as 80-percent receivers because they are near, but not at, completion.

Brobson in his opinion said he agreed with the petitioners’ assertions the state police policy, as written, is ambiguous.

“Petitioners have taken the stance that their unfinished receivers do not meet the (Uniform Firearms Act’s) definition of firearm,” Brobson wrote. “Some level of additional effort – e.g. drilling, filing, sawing, etc. – is required for these unfinished receivers to become fully functioning receivers.”

In rendering his decision, Brobson in his opinion also said he looked at the state police’s interpretation of the term “firearm” against the backdrop of the UFA.

“In general, the UFA defines a firearm as ‘any weapon, which is designed to or may readily be converted to expel any projectile by the action of an explosive or the frame or receiver of any such weapon,’” Brobson wrote.

He added, “While, at first blush, this may appear straightforward, the UFA does not contain definitions of the terms ‘frame or receiver,’ ‘designed to’ or ‘may readily be converted to.’”

Brobson’s injunction is the latest in a series of legal maneuvers that have tested the definition of what constitutes a firearm.

In December, Attorney Gen. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, gave his own legal opinion on the ghost guns policy, giving state police the authority to develop a policy for background checks.

In his opinion, Shapiro stated in his legal guidance ghost guns could be viewed as firearms because the unassembled frames could eventually lead to the outcome of an actual firearm through such actions as expelling a projectile.

With Shapiro’s guidance in play, state police adopted their policy, which called for the gun dealers to use the state’s gun-purchase background check system for the ghost gun sales, in lieu of an alternate online system.

published by The Gloucestercitynews.net with permission of

The Center Square