TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a prominent Atlantic County, N.J., attorney who specialized in elder law was sentenced to state prison today for defrauding elderly clients of millions of dollars and laundering the funds through various accounts, including her attorney trust account. Last week, the Division of Criminal Justice obtained an indictment charging the owner of an in-home senior care company, her sister and three other defendants in connection with the fraud.Barbara Lieberman, 63, of Northfield, was sentenced today to 10 years in state prison, including 3 ½ years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Michael A. Donio in Atlantic County. Lieberman pleaded guilty on Nov. 3 to an accusation charging her with first-degree money laundering. As a result of her guilty plea, Lieberman forfeited $3 million that the state seized from her, which will be used to pay restitution to her victims. She also forfeited her law license in New Jersey and a BMW.

TRENTON, NJ—A member of a large-scale drug trafficking organization today admitted conspiring to distribute heroin in Ocean and Monmouth counties and elsewhere in New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Jonathan Thomas, a/k/a \”Life,\” 39, of Asbury Park, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiring to distribute heroin.

BOISE (CN) – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cannot use Canadian land to claim that it\’s providing enough habitat for endangered caribou, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge said Fish and Wildlife must reopen its final rule for designated caribou habitat for public comment.
The Center for Biological Diversity led a lawsuit filed by several environmental groups against the federal agency, challenging its 2012 final rule designating more than 30,000 acres in Washington and Idaho as critical habitat for the southern Selkirk Mountains population of woodland caribou, also known as the Selkirk Mountain Caribou.

Threats Facing Citizen Journalists

Evidence-based, bipartisan efforts focus on prescribing practices and treatment to reduce prescription opioid and heroin use disorders

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell today announced a targeted initiative aimed at reducing prescription opioid and heroin related overdose, death and dependence. Deaths from drug overdose have risen steadily over the past two decades and currently outnumber deaths from car accidents in the United States. The President’s FY 2016 budget includes critical investments to intensify efforts to reduce opioid misuse and abuse, including $133 million in new funding to address this critical issue.

OPENING DAY OF TROUT SEASON IS APRIL 4

(15/P28) TRENTON -With trout season just around the corner, the Department of Environmental Protection\’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is hosting its annual free Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center Open House this weekend, March 28 and 29. 

The Pequest Open House is one of the Division of Fish and Wildlife\’s premier events, held every year the weekend prior to the opening of trout season to spotlight trout fishing and New Jersey\’s natural resources. An estimated 100,000 anglers are expected to take part as trout season begins on April 4 at 8 a.m.