Bordentown Physician Charged with Narcotics Distribution/Fraud

Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced today that narcotics distribution and fraud charges have been filed accusing a former physician of illegally prescribing thousands of highly- addictive opioid pills out of his Bordentown Township practice while simultaneously engaging in an unlawful medical billing

scheme.

Morris “Moishe” Starkman, 60, of Yellowstone Road in Cinnaminson, was charged with eight counts of Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance (Second Degree), four counts of Healthcare Claims Fraud (Second Degree) and two counts of Insurance Fraud (Second Degree).

He was taken into custody November 22 following the execution of a search warrant at his home during which multiple electronic devices were seized, along with business, financial and medical records. Starkman was released following a first appearance in Superior Court. The case is being prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment.

The investigation determined that between January 1, 2015 and January 1, 2018, Starkman issued prescriptions through his Bordentown Family Practice for nearly 1,400,000 total doses of opioids, including Oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet, Roxicodone, Endocet), Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Norco, Lorcet, Lortab), Oxymorphone (Opana), Hydromorphone (Dilaudid), morphine and fentanyl.

The eight patients outlined in the criminal charges filed against Starkman received 11 doses of opioids per day on average during that period. One patient alone was prescribed 17,460 doses, which equates to more than 15 per day. They each received anywhere from four to ten times the maximum dose recommended by the Centers for Disease Control.

The investigation revealed that Starkman would perform – at most – cursory examinations on patients before prescribing large amounts of opioids without medical justification, consideration of whether his patients were benefitting from the prescription painkillers he routinely and repeatedly prescribed, or exploration of the underlying causes for their pain.

Starkman maintained inadequate records on his patients which failed to document treatment plans for pain management or opioid use, or provide a legitimate medical purpose for prescribing such high quantities for an extended period of time. The reliance of his patients on the highly-addictive opioids he was prescribing insured they would frequently return to the practice for refills and be charged for an office visit.

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“He was one of the top prescribers in New Jersey,” Prosecutor Coffina said. “The number of opioids he prescribed for the three-year period reviewed during the investigation was enough to provide in excess of three doses to every man, woman and child residing in Burlington County.

“It is well documented that prescription opioids lay at the origin of the devastating drug use epidemic we are experiencing today. Around 80% of heroin users started with prescription drugs. Physicians who have abandoned their medical judgment and indiscriminately prescribed opioids to patients they knew or should have known were becoming addicted to them must be held accountable for their role in this ongoing health crisis.”

The investigation also revealed that Starkman, during that same time, submitted fraudulent health care claims to insurance companies for over $50,000 for services that were unauthorized, not eligible for reimbursement, not provided as represented or not rendered.

Starkman first came to the attention of law enforcement officials in late 2016 after an insurance company contacted authorities with a suspicion of illegal activity at his practice due to the high volume of opioid prescriptions he was writing.

The State Board of Medical Examiners temporarily suspended Starkman’s license in August 2017. Under a consent order reached in April 2018, Starkman agreed to permanently surrender his license to practice medicine in New Jersey.

Records seized from Starkman’s practice revealed that one of his patients fatally overdosed in May 2015, two months after his last visit to the Bordentown office.

The records indicated that during a visit in December 2014, Starkman continued to prescribe Oxycontin to the patient, despite noting that he was “slurring and falling asleep” during the visit. The following month, when the patient visited the office because he was “sick” and “ran out of all meds early again,” Starkman wrote him a prescription for a higher dosage of Oxycodone. During the patient’s final visit in March 2015, Starkman prescribed him 120 additional Oxycodone pills, despite noting that three days earlier he had been discharged from week-long stay at a mental health and addiction treatment facility where he had sought help for anxiety and panic attacks.

Due to insufficient evidence connecting his prescriptions to the patient’s fatal overdose, Starkman was not criminally charged in connection with the patient’s death.

Starkman will be prosecuted by Michael Angermeier, Supervisor of the BCPO Gang, Gun and Narcotics Task Force, Josh Dennis, Supervisor of the Insurance Fraud Unit, and First Assistant Prosecutor Philip S. Aronow.

The case was investigated by the BCPO Gang, Gun and Narcotics Task Force and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Diversion Control Division, with assistance from the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Enforcement Bureau, the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Special Investigations, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

2019 – 127

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

Three Charged with Collingswood Murder

COLLINGSWOOD, NJ–Dawud Haskins, 21, Dwayne Graves, 21, both from Camden, and Damian Crews, 20, of Collingswood were each charged with Felony Murder and Armed Robbery on November 26, 2019, according to Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill S. Mayer and Collingswood Police Chief Kevin Carey.

The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Collingswood Police Department and the United States Marshals Service are seeking the public’s assistance in locating Dwayne Graves.

On November 17, 2019, Collingswood Police responded to reports of an injured male inside of an apartment building on the 500 block of North Newton Lake Drive in Collingswood. The victim, Jose Morel, 26, was suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. He was transported to Cooper University Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Dawud Haskins was arrested in Camden on November 25, 2019, on an unrelated matter. Damian Crews was arrested on November 27, 2019, in Collingswood. Both were remanded to the Camden County jail pending a pretrial detention hearing.

Dwayne Graves, pictured below, is still at large. He should be considered armed and dangerous. Members of the public who might encounter Dwayne Graves should not approach him, but should call police immediately.

Anyone with any information pertaining to his whereabouts is urged to contact Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Matthew Barber at (856) 225-5166 or Collingswood Police Detective Michael Manning at (856) 854-1901.

All persons charged with crimes are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Released Tuesday, December 3, 2019.

PA Supreme Court: Criminal Suspect Can\’t Be Compelled To Reveal Password

In much-watched ruling

By Steve Bittenbender |

The Center Square

Nov 29, 2019

Privacy advocates scored a major victory when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last week, in a 4-3 decision, that a person does not have to reveal a computer password to law enforcement.

The ruling stems from a case that started in 2014 when investigators with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office discovered child pornography being shared online. Eventually, the case led them to Joseph Davis, a Luzerne County resident who was eventually charged with two counts of distributing child pornography.

In October 2015, agents seized a computer from Davis that agents claimed held illicit material. While Davis admitted to watching porn on his computer and that he had been arrested previously on child pornography charges, he refused to provide a password law enforcement needed to access the computer and find the file in question for evidence against him.

Two months later, when a judge tried to compel Davis, he again refused, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. However, that judge eventually ruled that based on previous information that Davis told investigators – such as that he was the only user of the computer and a statement to an agent saying disclosing the password would only hurt his case – the case met the “foregone conclusion” exception.

An appellate upheld the lower court’s decision. However, Davis appealed to the state’s top court.

Justice Debra Todd said that unlike a blood sample, there is “no physical manifestation” of a password. As such, that makes a password testimonial in nature and protected by the Fifth Amendment.

“As a passcode is necessarily memorized, one cannot reveal a passcode without revealing the contents of one’s mind,” Todd wrote in an opinion joined by Chief Justice Thomas Saylor and Justices Christine Donohue and David Wecht.

Todd admitted in her opinion that sometimes Constitutional rights hinder prosecutions. However, what may be “‘a shelter to the guilty,’ is often ‘a protection to the innocent.’”

Justice Max Baer dissented, with Justices Kevin Dougherty and Sallie Updyke Mundy joining.

The ruling sends the case back to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, where it will continue based on the justices’ decision.

\”We are carefully reviewing the court\’s decision,\” said Jacklin Rhoads, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Peter Goldberger, president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, argued before the Supreme Court on Davis’ behalf. In a statement, he said the state justices upheld basic privacy rights for everyone.

“The state and federal constitutions promise that people accused of crimes have the right to defend their own liberty,” he said. “They are under no obligation to assist the police or prosecutors in building a case against them by divulging their innermost thoughts.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a brief in support of Fifth Amendment rights in the case. Andrew Crocker, a senior staff attorney, said courts must take into consideration technological advances when considering an individual’s rights.

“We store a wealth of deeply personal information on our electronic devices,” he wrote in a foundation blog post. “The government simply should not put individuals in the no-win situation of choosing between disclosing a password – and turning over everything on these devices – or instead defying a court order to do so.”

published here with permission

Multiple Agencies Increase Maritime Safety and Security at Philadelphia Port

PHILADELPHIA-Members of Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay, Coast Guard Maritime Safety and

Security Team New York, Customs and Border Protection and multiple state and local police agencies

increased maritime operations to deter illegal activity within the ports of Philadelphia and

Wilmington, Delaware over the past three weeks.

Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Seth Johnson U.S. Coast Guard District 5 PADET Atlantic City Subscribe14 A member of Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team New York and K9 Ruthie inspect goods in the Port of Philadelphia for contraband, November 13, 2019. Interagency teams brought an increased presence to the ports during November to inspect goods brought in for the holiday seasons.

These combined joint agency efforts were focused on a period of heavy import and export before the

holidays, accounting for more than $1.2 billion of commerce throughout the Delaware Bay watershed.

During this time period, the Coast Guard and partner agencies conducted more than 470 hours of

extensive joint operations that included the inspection of 235 vehicles before export, screening 150

ferry passengers and the pier side examination of 62 shipping containers.

“The Delaware River contributes more than $77 billion dollars in economic value each year,” said Capt.

Scott Anderson, Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay Commander and Captain of the Port. \”These types of

joint operations help unify law enforcement efforts in the port to disrupt, detect, and deter illegal

activities by sharing unique capabilities and resources between agencies.”

In March 2019, an interagency task force seized 537 kilograms of contraband from a commercial vessel at the port of Philadelphia and in June 2019, nearly 20 tons of cocaine was seized, with an estimated street value of $1.3 billion.

The Delaware River port facilities can receive more than 3,000 deep draft vessels each year. There are

more than 70 private and public facilities capable of servicing bulk, break bulk, and containerized cargos.

Philadelphia is the largest North American port for the importing of paper, meat, cocoa beans, and fruit.

The Delaware River is also the largest energy port on the East Coast.

-USCG-

$449,119 Jersey Cash 5 Ticket Sold in Bergen County

TRENTON (Dec. 3, 2019)

– One lucky ticket matched all five numbers drawn winning the $449,119 Jersey Cash 5 jackpot from the

Monday, Dec. 2

, drawing. T

he winning numbers were: 03, 15, 20, 35 and 36 and the XTRA number was: 02.

The retailer will receive a bonus check for $2,000 for the winning ticket sold. That ticket was sold at Krauszer’s Food Store, 403 Midland Ave., Garfield in Bergen County.

Acting Executive Director James Carey announced that there were 453,181 tickets purchased for the drawing. By adding XTRA, for an additional $1.00 per play, winners are able to multiply their non-jackpot prizes by the XTRA number drawn. For correctly matching four of the five numbers drawn, 61 ticket holders won $573 each and 17 others won $1,146 each with the addition of XTRA. Moreover, for correctly matching three of the five numbers drawn, 2,600 ticket holders won $16 each and 459 others won $32 each with the addition of XTRA. Lastly 5,733 ticket holders each won $2 for correctly matching two of the five numbers drawn with the addition of XTRA on their purchase.

Sanctuaries to Release Illegal Immigrants Jailed for Rape, Murder, Child Molestation

Source Judicial Watch

(December 2019)–A national crisis generated by local law enforcement agencies offering even the most violent illegal immigrants sanctuary is driving federal officials to resort to desperate measures. Under a local-federal partnership known as

287(g)

, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is

notified of jail inmates in the country illegally so that they can be deported after serving time for state crimes. Unfortunately, a growing number of local law enforcement agencies are instead releasing the illegal aliens—many with serious convictions such as child sex offenses, rape and murder—rather than turn them over to federal authorities for removal. Judicial Watch has reported on this extensively and just a few weeks ago

outed

yet another elected law enforcement official who freed a child sex offender and forbids his department from honoring ICE detainers.

Now ICE is trying to strike preemptively by publicly

disclosing convicts

, complete with mug shots, scheduled to be released before they are actually let go by police in municipalities that proudly offer illegal aliens sanctuary. It indicates that the federal agency is determined to do its job amid a growing wave of local resistance. This month ICE targeted six offenders incarcerated in two Maryland counties notorious for shielding illegal immigrants from the feds. These are no boy scouts and ICE is pleading with authorities in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to hand over the prisoners instead of freeing them into the community. Most are incarcerated for sexual crimes involving children, including rape and serious physical abuse that resulted in death. A couple of the offenders are in jail for murder and assault and ICE wants them all transferred to its custody, so the illegal aliens don’t reoffend.

“The county leadership has chosen misguided politics over public safety,” said ICE’s Baltimore office director, Francisco Madrigal, in the

statement

announcing the upcoming scheduled releases. “The individuals we have lodged detainers against have been arrested in the community and will likely be released directly back into that community under these dangerous policies. We aren’t asking Montgomery County or Prince George’s County to conduct immigration enforcement, we’re asking them to honor a lawful request to transfer these individuals into our custody where they can avail themselves of due process in the immigration court system.” Judicial Watch reached out to law enforcement officials in both Maryland sanctuary counties, but calls went unanswered. ICE reminds them that when local jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement, they betray their duty to protect public safety.

Besides Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, two other large Maryland jurisdictions—Baltimore County and the city of Baltimore—shield illegal immigrants from the feds and deportation. Maryland’s Attorney General, the state’s chief law enforcement official, issued a

legal memo

last year defending the practice. Complying with ICE detainers for criminal illegal aliens is voluntary, the Attorney General writes in the document, and state and local law enforcement officials are potentially exposed to liability if they hold someone beyond the release date determined by state law. In 2017, Baltimore’s Chief Deputy State’s Attorney instructed prosecutors to

think twice before charging illegal immigrants

with minor, non-violent crimes to shield them from Trump administration deportation efforts.

North Carolina is another state well known for releasing droves of illegal immigrant criminals back onto the streets after being jailed for serious state crimes. This fiscal year alone,

nearly 500 offenders

with ICE detainers were freed throughout the Tar Heel State. Just weeks before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) disclosed those disturbing statewide figures, Judicial Watch

reported

that the elected sheriff of North Carolina’s largest county, Mecklenburg, released numerous violent offenders rather than turn them over to federal authorities for removal. Among them was a previously deported Honduran (33-year-old Oscar Pacheco-Leonardo) charged with rape and child sex offenses. Throughout his campaign, Mecklenburg‘s sheriff, Garry McFadden, promised to protect illegal immigrants and as soon as he got elected in 2018 he ended the program that notified ICE of jail inmates in the country illegally.

Woman Found Dead in Farnham Park Was Murdered

CAMDEN CITY NJ December 3, 2019–Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill S. Mayer and Camden County Police Chief Joseph Wysocki reported an adult female who was found in Farnham Park on December 2, 2019 in Camden.

At approximately 12:12 p.m., Camden County Police responded to reports of an unconscious female in the park near the 1600 block of Baird Boulevard. When officers arrived, they located the victim, Hayley Steinberg, 31, of Medford, deceased at the scene.

The Gloucester/Camden/Salem County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death to be multiple stab wounds, and the manner of death to be Homicide.

The investigation into the stabbing is ongoing. No additional information is being released at this time.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Jose Rosado at

(609) 422-6291

or Camden County Police Detective Sean Miller at

(856) 757-7042

Information may also be emailed to

ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org

Released Tuesday, December 3, 2019.

Body of Woman Found in Farnham Park

CAMDEN CITY, new jersey—Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill S. Mayer and Camden County Police Chief Joseph Wysocki reported the body of a 31-year-old

female from Burlington County was found on December 2, 2019 at approximately 3:00 p.m. in Farnham Park on the 1600 block of Baird Boulevard in Camden. Cause of death is unknown at this time.

The matter is under investigation. No further details are being released at this time.

Released Monday, December 2, 2019.

K-9 Jocko and Officers Apprehend Two Burglars at Bagel Bin

VOORHEES TWP. NJ

On Sunday, December 1

, 2019 at approximately 10:44 pm, Voorhees Patrol Officers were dispatched to the Bagel Bin located on the 200 block of Kresson-Gibbsboro Road for a burglary in progress. The business owner was alerted and able to view live video from the surveillance system of two masked individuals inside the closed business. As Officers arrived on location, the individuals pulled the rear door shut, hence barricading themselves within the business. Officers, including Voorhees Police K9 (Jocko) set up a perimeter, at which time, a K9 announcement to surrender was broadcasted. Two individuals complied with Officers commands, prior to K9 Jocko being deployed, and exited the business. They were then taken into custody without incident.

The Voorhees Police Department announces the arrest of Arthur Reynolds (57 yoa), last known address from the 1600 block of City Place, Atlantic City, NJ and Dion Joyce (52 yoa), last known address from the 1000 block of Martin Luther King Blvd., Atlantic City, NJ.

Each was processed and charged with the following crimes: Burglary 2C:18-2A(1), Possession of Burglary Tools 2C:5-5A(2), Criminal Mischief 2C:17-3A(1), and Theft 2C:20-3A. In addition, it was learned that Mr. Dion Joyce was a wanted person by the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Department. Both burglars were remanded to the Camden County Correctional Facility pending a court hearing.

Residents are reminded to be vigilant and report

ALL

suspicious activity.

Address/Location

Voorhees Township Police Department

1180 White Horse Road

Voorhees Township, NJ 08043

Contact

Emergency: 9-1-1

Non-emergencies: 856-428-5400

NJ Standing Up for the Rights of Transgender Individuals

Amicus Brief

TRENTON –

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal has joined with 22 other Attorneys General in fighting to support transgender individuals’ civil rights by filing an amicus brief in federal court arguing that schools cannot lawfully deny students access to the restrooms that are consistent with their gender identity.

The multi-state brief supports Gavin Grimm, a transgender male who filed a lawsuit in 2015 – as a high school sophomore — because his Gloucester County, Virginia, school district refused to let him use the boys’ restroom consistent with his gender identity. The district also refused to revise Grimm’s school transcripts to identify him as male despite the fact that he had obtained an amended birth certificate stating he is male. The lawsuit drew national attention when the U.S. Supreme Court granted review of Grimm’s case back in 2016, although it ultimately did not resolve the claims.

Grimm has since graduated high school. But his lawsuit, which challenges the school district’s policies, continues before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

“In New Jersey and across this country, individuals deserve the right to be treated in line with their gender identity and to live free of transphobia,” said Attorney General Grewal. “So in addition to issuing new policies last week that protect the safety and dignity of our transgender residents, I’m also standing up for their civil rights in court. Schools, bars and any other places of public accommodation may not discriminate against transgender individuals, and we’ll take action whenever they do.”

Among other things, Grimm is seeking damages and a declaration that the Gloucester County school district violated his rights under Title IX, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Grimm also seeks a permanent injunction against the school district that will allow him to use restrooms consistent with his gender identity when he returns to his school for alumni activities.

“Discrimination against transgender people has no legitimate basis, and serves only to injure a group that is feared for being different,” asserts the multi-state brief filed in support of Grimm. “Such discrimination harms transgender people at school, at work and in other settings, causing tangible economic, educational, emotional, and health consequences.”

The brief cites statistics and studies demonstrating the harmful effects of discrimination against transgender persons, ranging from specific health problems linked to avoiding restroom use to suicide. The brief notes that 20 states — including New Jersey, the District of Columbia and 225 local governments — have enacted protections against discrimination based on transgender status. It also cites research demonstrating that these anti-discrimination provisions have achieved significant benefits – for example, increased success rates for students – without compromising privacy or safety, or imposing significant extra costs. The brief also explains that the states which already permit students to use restrooms consistent with their gender identify have not experienced increased reports of harassment or other safety issues.

Today’s announcement comes in the wake of an announcement last week by Attorney General Grewal of three initiatives aimed at protecting New Jersey residents from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

On Nov. 20, Attorney General Grewal issued a directive to all state, county and local law enforcement agencies governing their interactions with transgender persons. Known as the “LGBTQ Equality Directive,” the directive is designed to ensure that all individuals are guaranteed safety and dignity when encountering law enforcement, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

At the same time, Attorney General Grewal announced a new public awareness campaign by DCR to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals under the LAD. As part of the awareness campaign, DCR has issued new fact sheets describing “5 Things You Should Know” about the LAD. The fact sheets are being distributed in public and on social media, and are posted on the DCR website.

Under a third initiative announced by Attorney General Grewal, the Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) has updated its policy to ensure that, among other things, LGBTQ+ youth in the commission’s care are not harassed or discriminated against, and that JJC staff engage in “proper behavior and respectful communication” with LGBTQ+ youth.