WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was a seven-day ordeal that has lasted seven years. In March 2004, Albert Florence of Bordentown was arrested on a warrant for an outstanding traffic fine he had already paid, and then strip-searched twice in two different jails over a seven-day period. Eventually, a judge freed Florence and dismissed all charges. He promptly filed suit,...

William Perlman/The Star-LedgerA file photo of the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was a seven-day ordeal that has lasted seven years.

In March 2004, Albert Florence of Bordentown was arrested on a warrant for an outstanding traffic fine he had already paid, and then strip-searched twice in two different jails over a seven-day period.

Eventually, a judge freed Florence and dismissed all charges. He promptly filed suit, claiming his treatment was unconstitutional.

Today, after a series of rulings and appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the matter.

The case began seven years ago on Route 295 in Burlington County when a New Jersey State Trooper stopped a BMW sport utility vehicle being driven by Florence’s wife. According to court papers, the trooper checked the vehicle’s registration, which was in Florence’s name, and found he was wanted on an outstanding Essex County warrant. Florence, who works as a finance director, said he tried to show the trooper an official letter stating the warrant had been satisfied, but the trooper arrested him anyway.

Florence was taken to the Burlington County jail, where he was subjected to a strip- and cavity search. After six days, he was brought to the Essex County jail and again given a strip- and cavity search, fingerprinted, photographed and put in the general population.

A Superior Court judge ultimately dismissed all the charges and Florence filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that the jailhouse searches were unreasonable on the grounds that he was being held for failure to pay a fine — which is not a crime in New Jersey.

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez later ruled in his favor, finding it unconstitutional to strip search every defendant, regardless of their charge.

"A hypothetical priest or minister arrested for allegedly skimming the Sunday collection would be subjected to the same degrading procedure as a gang member arrested on an allegation of drug charges," Rodriguez wrote, in a ruling supported by five former state attorneys general.

But Essex and Burlington officials appealed the decision, which they claimed would open the door for anyone arrested for petty crimes to claim damages for being unlawfully strip-searched.

In arguments before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia last year, an attorney for Burlington County argued the searches were necessary to identify gang members through tattoos, prevent disease and impede drugs and weapons from fueling violence behind bars.

Susan Chana Lask of New York, Florence’s lawyer, told the court there was no justification for strip searching someone who violated something as minor as a dog-leash law, noting the Supreme Court in a 1979 ruling only gave authority to strip search inmates who failed to make bail — not to suspects picked up for minor offenses and had not yet seen a judge.

The arguments did not sway the panel. Last September, the appeals court overturned the lower court decision, granting county jails the authority to strip-search every inmate within their walls. They said it was crucial to search everyone to keep jails safe.

"It is self-evident that preventing the introduction of weapons and drugs into the prison environment is a legitimate interest of concern for prison administrators," wrote Judge Thomas M. Hardiman.

Today, however, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, amid conflicting decisions in different circuits over the legality of strip searches.

Lask said she had vowed from day one that she would take it all the way to the top court.

"For 25 years across the nation, no court permitted these blanket strip searches," she said.

But in recent years, appeals courts in Atlanta and San Francisco have decided that authorities’ need to maintain security justified a wide-ranging search policy, without regard to the reason for someone’s detention.

Those arguing for unlimited strip-searches have cited reasons ranging from the search for gang tattoos to illegal drugs.

"I don’t believe it has anything to do with it," remarked Lask. "It’s just quick and easy for them to treat everyone the same."

UNION TWP. (Union County) — A woman was found dead in a Union Township residence earlier today, and authorities are investigating the incident as a homicide, authorities said. Police were called to the scene around 5 p.m., according to the Union County Prosecutor's Office, where they found the dead woman inside a residence near the intersection of Chestnut Street and...

UNION TWP. (Union County) — A woman was found dead in a Union Township residence earlier today, and authorities are investigating the incident as a homicide, authorities said.

Police were called to the scene around 5 p.m., according to the Union County Prosecutor's Office, where they found the dead woman inside a residence near the intersection of Chestnut Street and Crawford Terrace.

The woman's identity was not immediately released, and authorities did not say how she died or describe a motive in the slaying.

Investigators from the Prosecutor's Office and Union Township Police are currently investigating the case as a homicide.

By Tomas Dinges and James Queally/The Star-Ledger

A father and son who played major roles in a Bernard Madoff-like, $880 million Ponzi scheme run out of Miami pleaded guilty today, in business-like fashion, in Newark federal court. The 76-year-old father, Roberto Torres, and his son, Alejandro, 39, appeared separately before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton and admitted to their roles in helping a high-flying Miami...

John O'Boyle/The Star-LedgerU.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in this April 2010 file photo.

A father and son who played major roles in a Bernard Madoff-like, $880 million Ponzi scheme run out of Miami pleaded guilty today, in business-like fashion, in Newark federal court.

The 76-year-old father, Roberto Torres, and his son, Alejandro, 39, appeared separately before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton and admitted to their roles in helping a high-flying Miami Beach businessman, Nevin K. Shapiro, bilk more than 50 investors in New Jersey and other states out of an eventual $50 million to $100 million in losses, authorities said.

Roberto Torres, formerly of Lighthouse Point, Fla., was the chief financial officer of Shapiro’s fraudulent business, Capitol Investments USA Inc., which from 2005 to 2009 solicited millions of dollars based on false promises of grabbing up to 26 percent returns on investments in what appeared to be a highly profitable grocery-distribution business. Alejandro Torres, of Boca Raton, Fla., was an accountant-bookkeeper at the company that bought and resold wholesale groceries, authorities said.

The father walked into the courtroom first, dressed in a crisp white shirt, a light jacket and wire-rim glasses. His mouth clenched throughout the hearing, except when quietly answering the judge’s questions, he admitted to giving investors fraudulent promissory notes.

He also confirmed that he’d sent investors documents, such as invoices, that showed fraudulent sources of products and false profits in the tens of millions of dollars. Later, the son admitted to virtually the same acts, though they were committed in his role as a bookkeeper.

Both defendants said that Capitol had virtually no income-generating business from grocery distribution and simply used new investor funds to pay off existing investors — a classic Ponzi scheme.

The pleas came 6½ months after Shapiro — the company’s founder and the government’s central defendant — pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money laundering.

Shapiro made splashy headlines last year when he was arrested. He was said to have taken $35 million for himself during the scheme and used it to create an extravagant lifestyle.

He reportedly hung out with Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade and owned a $1.5 million Riviera yacht. Shapiro lived in a $5 million waterfront house and was such a generous booster of the University of Miami athletics program that it named a student lounge after him. He boasted that he gave Shaquille O’Neal a pair of diamond-studded handcuffs as a birthday gift and spent $400,000 for Miami Heat floor seats.

But today it was two quiet-looking men, a father and son of Puerto Rican descent, who appeared in court. No such lavish lifestyle allegations were made about them during the proceeding. Shapiro, 41, was not there. And it did not appear any investors, who filed an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding against Shapiro, were there either.

Most of the investors lived in Florida and Indiana, authorities said. Though, according to a criminal complaint, one alleged victim owned a New Jersey company and invested roughly $5.4 million with Capitol Investments. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, who attended Shapiro’s plea hearing, said then that it was unlikely the investors would get most of their money back, given the scope of the Ponzi scheme.

Bukie O. Adetula, who represented Alejandro Torres, noted after the hearing that his client agreed to plead guilty early in the prosecution process. "My client was a good guy, a good employee, who for the most part was taking directions from higher-ups," he added, maintaining that most of those directions came from Shapiro, not Roberto Torres.

Hoffman falsely told investigators of an armed abductor that forced her to flee from authorities, launching a search that put the state trooper in harm's way Watch video

HOWELL — Diana Hoffman wasn’t driving the Volkswagon Jetta that struck state trooper Marc Castellano on the shoulder of Route 195 in Howell Township just before 10 a.m. one day last June. Already in police custody, she was not near Castellano when he was hit.

Yet Hoffman could spend 15 years in prison for launching a series of events that led to the death of the 29-year-old father of two.

Hoffman, 30, of Blackwood, pleaded guilty today to several charges in Superior Court in Monmouth County, including a first-degree offense of raising a false public alarm.

Dressed in a maroon jumpsuit, Hoffman responded to questions from her defense attorney Donna Wrenn in front a packed courtroom before Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr.

"Do you understand that under this statute, that you would be responsible for his death..." Wrenn asked.

"Yes," Hoffman answered.

She also pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of eluding and two motor vehicle offenses for reckless driving and speeding. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed additional counts of drug possession, hindering her own apprehension and making false reports to law enforcement.

Marc LeMieux, the director of major crimes for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, said because the false public alarm resulted in the trooper’s death, she was charged with the first-degree offense. He said it was the first time he recalled the first-degree charge being used in Monmouth County.

Prosecutors recommended a 15-year sentence with parole ineligibility for five years for the false public alarm charge, which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years. They recommended the sentence run concurrently with a 10-year sentence for the eluding charge, also with parole ineligibility of five years.

Recounting in court the events of June 6, Hoffman said she claimed an armed acquaintance in the car with her forced her to speed away from a trooper who pulled behind her Ford Fusion on the shoulder of the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway in Ocean County that morning. Driving recklessly, Hoffman led the trooper on a chase at speeds up to 105 mph.

The trooper ended the pursuit when Hoffman got off the highway at Exit 98 in Wall Township.

More than an hour later, police found Hoffman’s car on the side of Route 195 West in Howell Township, where she was found nearby in the woods.

Hoffman falsely told investigators that a man with a gun forced her to flee from the trooper on the Parkway. She said the gunman ran from the vehicle, prompting police officers, including Castellano, to launch a search.

While standing on the shoulder of the road during the search, Castellano was struck by a car.

Robert R. Swan, the driver of the car that hit Castellano, was issued motor vehicle summonses and was not charged criminally. Swan, now 21, of Jackson, is a West Point Academy first class cadet and is set to graduate in May, said Jim Fox, a spokesperson for the academy.

Today in court, Hoffman sighed heavily while the prosecutor and judge questioned her on the details of the plea agreement. At times, she seemed exasperated and at other times deeply saddened. When talking about Castellano’s death, she cried, covered her mouth with her hand and stared at the ground .

Her mother, Charlotte Zawojski, seated a few rows back in the courtroom sobbed as her daughter admitted her guilt.

Castellano’s family, including his parents, brother Nick and widow Stephanie, sat in the front row of the courtroom. They were backed by a row of state troopers, who were dressed in uniform and showed no emotion during the plea.

"It’s supposed to, I guess, make our family feel better," said Nick Castellano, Marc’s younger brother and an Ocean Township patrolman. "But it doesn’t. He’s gone. He’s gone forever.

"I’m glad she took responsibility for her actions. She did a lot of heinous things. People like that need to go to jail."

Additionally, Hoffman awaits sentencing for an eluding charge in Burlington County that occurred several days before Castellano’s death. She is expected to receive a seven-year sentence for that charge, with parole eligibility in three-and-a-half years. The time would run consecutive to whatever sentence she receives July 8 in Monmouth County, according to the Monmouth County prosecutors.

Previous coverage:

• Camden County woman admits raising false public alarm that led to N.J. trooper's death

• Grand jury indicts woman on charges she caused false public alarm that led to N.J. State trooper's death

• Authorities say N.J. woman raised false public alarm that led to State Police trooper's death

• Woman involved in N.J. State Police trooper's death to face false public alarm charge

• Woman arrested in search that led to N.J. State Police trooper's death faces court hearing

• N.J. State Police trooper dies from injuries suffered in Howell Township crash

• N.J. State Police trooper seriously injured in Howell during search

UNION TWP. (Union County) — A husband was arrested tonight and charged with the murder of his wife in their apartment, authorities said. Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said Vincent Falls, 43, killed his wife, Cheryl Falls, 44, in their home in an apartment building at Chestnut Street and Crawford Terrace, The couple’s 19-year-old daughter also suffered minor injuries...

View full sizeSaed Hindash/Star-Ledger StaffA husband was arrested today for killing his wife at their Union Township apartment late this afternoon, authorities said.

UNION TWP. (Union County) — A husband was arrested tonight and charged with the murder of his wife in their apartment, authorities said.

Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said Vincent Falls, 43, killed his wife, Cheryl Falls, 44, in their home in an apartment building at Chestnut Street and Crawford Terrace,

The couple’s 19-year-old daughter also suffered minor injuries in the incident at 5:22 p.m., the prosecutor said.

Police found the body in the apartment shortly afterward and Vincent Falls was apprehended at the scene, Romankow said.

The neighborhood where the incident occurred is primarily residential.

On the first floor of the apartment building there is a vacuum repair store, a general store and a flower shop.

Falls was being held on $750,000 bail, Romankow said. Police did not say how Cheryl Falls died or describe a motive in the slaying.

By Tomas Dinges and James Queally/The Star-Ledger

DOVER — A Dover man was arrested just after midnight on Friday after he allegedly threatened to kill three bouncers at a local pub, police said. Patrick Morrow, 50, brandished an eight-inch folding knife and waved it at the bouncers outside Murphy’s Third Rail Pub on South Bergen Street, according to Detective Sgt. Richard Gonzalez. Morrow was charged with...

Google Maps Dover man was arrested just after midnight on Friday after he allegedly threatened to kill three bouncers at a local pub, police said.

DOVER — A Dover man was arrested just after midnight on Friday after he allegedly threatened to kill three bouncers at a local pub, police said.

Patrick Morrow, 50, brandished an eight-inch folding knife and waved it at the bouncers outside Murphy’s Third Rail Pub on South Bergen Street, according to Detective Sgt. Richard Gonzalez.

Morrow was charged with terror threats, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and disorderly conduct. He was taken to Morris County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

He participated in a conspiracy to commit bribery tied to getting a witness to lie

Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerClifford Minor will be sentenced July 18 after admitting he participated in a conspiracy to commit bribery tied to getting a witness to lie.

NEWARK — A prominent attorney and former prosecutor who once ran for mayor of Newark pleaded guilty today for his role in a bribery scheme.

Clifford Minor admitted in federal court that he participated in a conspiracy to commit bribery tied to getting a witness to lie. He also pleaded guilty to committing perjury, obstructing justice and falsifying records.

Prosecutors said Minor helped a client bribe another man to plead guilty to a weapons charge.

Under terms of the plea agreement, the 68-year-old must surrender his law license.

Minor is scheduled to be sentenced on July 18.

Previous coverage:

• Newark man admits accepting bribe in plan involving ex-Essex County prosecutor

• Ex-Essex County Prosecutor Clifford Minor is charged with bribery, obstructing justice

OLD BRIDGE — It took seven months and a lot detective work, but Old Bridge police have brought charges against a Linden man for the theft of a $200,000 boat from a township marina on July 31. Police said the boat, a 26-foot Regulator, was taken from Zuback's Marina on Route 35 in the township's Laurence Harbor section, sometime the...

OLD BRIDGE — It took seven months and a lot detective work, but Old Bridge police have brought charges against a Linden man for the theft of a $200,000 boat from a township marina on July 31.

Police said the boat, a 26-foot Regulator, was taken from Zuback's Marina on Route 35 in the township's Laurence Harbor section, sometime the morning of July 31, but was not reported missing by its owner until Aug. 3, when he got a call from Green Brook police that the boat was found, stripped of its twin 250-horsepower engines, GPS and other valuables.

Detective Glen Smalley, who handled the investigation, found a plate that belonged to a trailer and took it from there, according to police.

He tracked the owner of the trailer, checked video caught from cameras on bridges and used other tools until he found the match.

Michael Loureiro, 24, was charged with theft of movable property, a second degree offense, and conspiracy to commit theft. Loureiro surrendered to police on March 25, and was released after posting $75,000 bail. Police also seized his yellow pickup truck, which authorities said was used in the theft.

PARSIPPANY — Parsippany police and the Morris County Sheriff’s Crime Stoppers program are seeking the public’s help in solving a rash of recent burglaries in Parsippany. There were eight burglaries in the township between Friday and Monday and they occurred in the Mount Tabor, Lake Hiawatha and Lake Parsippany sections, according to police. Items stolen included jewelry, cash, a home...

PARSIPPANY — Parsippany police and the Morris County Sheriff’s Crime Stoppers program are seeking the public’s help in solving a rash of recent burglaries in Parsippany.

There were eight burglaries in the township between Friday and Monday and they occurred in the Mount Tabor, Lake Hiawatha and Lake Parsippany sections, according to police.

Items stolen included jewelry, cash, a home safe, watches, a Wii gaming system and a digital camera. In one case, jewelry items worth $8,100 were taken and in another $3,000 in cash was stolen, Parsippany police said.

Several of the burglaries occurred during the evening hours at homes that were unoccupied.

With the burglaries spread all over the township, Sgt. Yvonne Christiano said it’s “doubtful” one person or group committed all of them, but she said some of them may be related. Two burglaries occurred on the same street in Lake Hiawatha, and two others occurred close to each other in Lake Parsippany, Christiano said.

Anyone with information on the thefts is asked to contact Parsippany police at (973) 263-4300 or Morris Crime Stoppers at copcall.org or (973) 267-2255. A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered.

DOVER — A Dover man is in custody after allegedly beating and robbing a man, and then asking a teenager for a hug, police said. Otis Orlando Jones, 37, and another man robbed a victim of $800 and left him bleeding near the intersection of Dickerson and South Morris streets on Monday night, according to Detective Sgt. Richard Gonzalez....

Google MapsA Dover man was arrested after he allegedly beat and robbed a man at Dickerson and South Morris streets, police said.

DOVER — A Dover man is in custody after allegedly beating and robbing a man, and then asking a teenager for a hug, police said.

Otis Orlando Jones, 37, and another man robbed a victim of $800 and left him bleeding near the intersection of Dickerson and South Morris streets on Monday night, according to Detective Sgt. Richard Gonzalez.

After the robbery, Jones allegedly approached a 15-year-old on the street and attempted to steal a cell phone. The juvenile put the phone in his pocket and tried to walk away but Jones grabbed him, Gonzalez said. The boy pleaded with Jones and offered $20 instead of the phone. Jones told the kid to keep his money, asked for a hug, hugged the boy and then walked away, Gonzalez said.

That is when two Dover police officers stopped to question him. Jones attempted to walk away from the officers, and struggled when he was placed under arrest, Gonzalez said.

Jones was put in the patrol car. He kicked out the rear window and bent the door frame, Gonzalez said.

Jones was charged with robbery, conspiracy, resisting arrest, criminal mischief and assault. He was taken to the Morris County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The other assailant has not yet been found. Anyone with information is asked to call Officer William Newton at (973) 366-2200 ext. 353.

OAK BEACH, N.Y. — Detectives searching for a missing New Jersey prostitute have uncovered the remains of eight possible victims of a serial killer along a remote New York beach highway, but said today that none is the woman they have been looking for. "I'm just shocked," Sherre Gilbert said in a brief telephone interview after learning from Suffolk...

Two photos of Shannan Gilbert from a missing persons handout. The 24-year-old Jersey City prostitute went missing in May, and police suspected she may have become a victim of a serial killer on Long Island.

OAK BEACH, N.Y. — Detectives searching for a missing New Jersey prostitute have uncovered the remains of eight possible victims of a serial killer along a remote New York beach highway, but said today that none is the woman they have been looking for.

"I'm just shocked," Sherre Gilbert said in a brief telephone interview after learning from Suffolk County detectives that her sister, Shannan Gilbert, was not among the eight bodies found along Ocean Parkway on Long Island in recent months. "I am still hoping for the best outcome."

Shannan Gilbert, 24, who worked as an escort, was last seen last spring in Oak Beach, near where the latest remains were discovered, after apparently meeting a client she had booked through Craigslist. The bodies of four other prostitutes, all of whom advertised their services on Craigslist and were in their 20s, were found along the same highway by police searching for Gilbert in December.

A fifth body was located last week about a mile from where the first four were found and police on Monday said they uncovered the remains of three more people. Police have not identified any of the most recent victims and have not definitively linked them to the remains found in December.

Detectives suspect a serial killer but so far have no suspects.

The four dead prostitutes were found amid a 4-foot-tall tangle of sea grass punctuated by scrubby pine trees. Authorities have identified them as Amber Lynn Costello, 27, originally of Wilmington, N.C.; Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine; Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 28, of Norwich, Conn.; and Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Buffalo, N.Y.

Although officers have searched the area several times since December, they intensified a search of the 7.5-mile area on Monday. After searching almost exclusively on the north side of Ocean Parkway, which leads to the popular Jones Beach, police academy cadets, K-9 units and other investigators moved to the south side of the roadway today, searching a wide swath of sandy beach down to the ocean.

The north side of the highway has proved a challenging search for investigators, who have had to contend with a thicket of underbrush and evergreens, peppered with a variety of trash, from helium balloons to car tires to beer cans and bottles.

Although police were able to quickly rule out Gilbert as a victim because of forensic evidence they had on file in her case, identifying the four recently found bodies could take weeks or longer, officials have said. The New York City medical examiner's office is assisting Suffolk County officials with their investigation.

Gilbert had arranged to meet a client in Oak Beach last May. A resident of the gated seaside enclave told The Associated Press today that a woman believed to be Gilbert came to his door around 4:45 a.m. on May 1, pleading for help.

Gus Coletti said that when he attempted to call police, she fled. He said he suspected the woman may have been intoxicated or high on drugs.

A few moments later, an unidentified man in a sport utility vehicle drove past the house and said he was looking for the woman, but then took off. Neither the woman nor the man was seen by the neighbor again.

The client Gilbert had arranged to meet was investigated by police but has not been named as a suspect in her disappearance.

Police said their search of the area for additional victims would resume on Wednesday.

Previous coverage:

• Authorities find 3 more victims along N.Y. beach in suspected serial killer case

• Search for missing Jersey City woman continues at remote N.Y. beach where five others have been found

• None of 4 bodies found on Long Island match missing Jersey City prostitute

• Investigators scour Long Island beach access road in area where Shannon Gilbert of Jersey City was last seen

• Police investigating disappearance of Shannon Gilbert remove SUV from home

• Boyfriend and the driver of Shannon Maria Gilbert recount hours just before Jersey City woman went missing

• Missing Jersey City woman identified attacker in frantic 911 call before disappearance

BEDMINSTER — An Ohio man is accused of punching a Bedminster police officer who tried to stop him following an alleged carjacking attempt at an office complex parking lot, according to Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano. Jianyong Zhu, 38, of Mason, Ohio, remained in the Somerset County jail Tuesday in lieu of $150,000 cash-only bail. He has been charged...

Google MapsAn Ohio man is accused of punching a Bedminster police officer after a carjacking on Crossroads Drive.

BEDMINSTER — An Ohio man is accused of punching a Bedminster police officer who tried to stop him following an alleged carjacking attempt at an office complex parking lot, according to Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano.

Jianyong Zhu, 38, of Mason, Ohio, remained in the Somerset County jail Tuesday in lieu of $150,000 cash-only bail. He has been charged with first-degree carjacking, resisting arrest and simple assault, Soriano said.

Authorities said the attack occurred around 3 p.m. March 30 at 2 Crossroads Dr. They said Zhu dragged a woman out of her GMC Envoy in the parking lot and drove off in the vehicle.

Bedminster police Sgt. Thomas Martin found Zhu inside the SUV’s passenger seat in the parking lot, according to the arrest affidavit. The sergeant told Zhu to get out, but Zhu ignored the orders, the court document states.

Zhu then tried to reach inside the SUV’s glove box, and the officer’s attempt to stop him escalated into a struggle between the two men, the document states.

Soriano said Zhu punched Martin in the face, but the attacker was subdued with the help of witnesses in the parking lot.

NEWARK — A Newark man faces weapons and drug charges after detectives from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office found heroin, crack cocaine and loaded handguns in his Vermont Avenue home Monday night, authorities said today. Andre Green, 39, was arrested following a brief stakeout and a search of his home, where detectives found a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a...

Google MapsA map of Vermont Avenue, the location of a Newark man's home, where Essex County Sheriff's Officers found a stash of drugs and weapons, authorities say.

NEWARK — A Newark man faces weapons and drug charges after detectives from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office found heroin, crack cocaine and loaded handguns in his Vermont Avenue home Monday night, authorities said today.

Andre Green, 39, was arrested following a brief stakeout and a search of his home, where detectives found a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a .357-caliber revolver, both loaded, Sheriff Armando Fontoura’s office said. They also said a search of a bedroom closet turned up 39 packs of heroin and nearly 4 grams of crack cocaine stashed in a box of baby wipes, with a combined street value of about $1,000.

Green faces unlawful possession of a weapon counts, including while committing a narcotics crime, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and related distribution charges, including for being within 1,000 feet of a school. He was carrying $2,700 in cash.

Green was also charged with of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, the sheriff’s office said. He was being held at the county jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

IRVINGTON — Rolando Terrell’s fate may depend on the credibility of Lester Hayes. During four hours of summations in Terrell’s murder trial today, attorneys focused most of their attention on Hayes, 50, who testified last month that he turned away when Terrell allegedly shot and killed four women — three of them teenagers — inside an Irvington home before...

IRVINGTON — Rolando Terrell’s fate may depend on the credibility of Lester Hayes.

During four hours of summations in Terrell’s murder trial today, attorneys focused most of their attention on Hayes, 50, who testified last month that he turned away when Terrell allegedly shot and killed four women — three of them teenagers — inside an Irvington home before setting the building on fire in 2008.

"Lester may be a criminal, ladies and gentleman, but some criminals know the difference between right and wrong," said Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Roger Imhof. "Lester wasn’t down for wiping out a whole family."

But Joseph Krakora, Terrell’s attorney, branded Hayes as a "violent, dangerous criminal" who implicated Terrell to save himself from a lengthy prison sentence.

"The facts of (Hayes’) life history show he is an anti-social, hardened criminal, and not a person worthy of your belief," he said.

Terrell, a 39-year-old Bloods gang member, turned himself in to authorities in September of 2008, just days after four bodies were found inside of the scorched home on Columbia Avenue. Authorities say Candes McLean, 40; her daughter, Talia McLean, 18; her niece, Zakiyyah Jones, 18; and her boyfriend’s daughter, Latrisha Carruthers-Fields, 13, were all shot in the head by Terrell after a robbery.

Terrell, a trusted family friend, knew McLean had been selling drugs and expected to find cash at the house, according to Imhof.

Terell’s charges include murder, felony murder, arson, robbery and weapons offenses.

Hayes, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, instead of murder, in exchange for his testimony, contradicted himself several times between his testimony last month and in recorded statements he made to investigators, according to Krakora.

The attorney said Hayes has been unable to consistently describe what happened that day and disputed his claims that Terrell forced him to aid in the robbery

"Does he strike you as the type of guy who needs to be coerced into breaking the law?" Krakora asked the jury. "He’s spent most of his life doing it."

Hayes faces 20 years in prison.

The testimony of the state’s other key witness, McLean’s daughter Alijah, was also scrutinized by Krakora today. The lone adult survivor of the attacks, McLean, now, 21, testified that she heard Terrell’s voice while she hid in a closet during the robbery. She did not see him.

Krakora suggested the tragic circumstances of her relatives’ deaths may have clouded her memory.

Alijah made two desperate 911 calls that were replayed in court today, screaming "he shot my mother" several times. Several of McLean’s relatives and friends, some wearing pins with pictures of the deceased that read "My Fallen Angels," began to sob and left the court room as the gut-wrenching recordings were presented to the jury.

Imhof and Krakora also battled over the credibility of Bengie Davis, an accused heroin dealer who testified he gave Terrell the murder weapon hours before the slayings. Terrell can be heard demanding Davis to return "it," during a recorded conversation that was part of a federal investigation into Davis.

Krakora said Davis only implicated Terrell after investigators showed him the weapon. Imhof noted Davis didn’t testify against any of his co-defendants in the federal drug case, and said he still faces up to 40 years in prison.

The jury will begin deliberations Wednesday morning.

Previous coverage:

• Trial to resume for reputed Bloods gang member accused in Irvington quadruple killing

• Witness testifies against reputed Bloods gang member in Irvington quadruple killing trial

• Lone adult survivor recounts night of Irvington quadruple killing

• Reputed Bloods member accused of fatally shooting 4 people, setting fire to Irvington house to hide crime

• Daughter of victim killed by reputed Bloods member expected to testify in quadruple slaying trial

• Irvington quadruple slaying, arson leads to indictment against two Essex men

• Judge: Murder suspect entitled to hearing to learn nature of evidence used in his arrest

• Accused man's right to evidence at issue in Irvington quadruple slaying

• Reputed gang member arraigned in Irvington slayings

• Suspect in 4 Irvington slayings turns himself in

UNION TWP. (Union County) — The Union County woman killed inside her family’s Union Township apartment on Monday died of stab wounds, an autopsy found today, a day after her husband was charged with murdering her. The medical examiner ruled the death of Cheryl Falls a homicide caused by knife wounds, prosecutor Theodore Romankow said. Vincent Falls, 43, remained...

View full sizeSaed Hindash/Star-Ledger StaffA husband was arrested today for killing his wife at their Union Township apartment late this afternoon, authorities said.

UNION TWP. (Union County) — The Union County woman killed inside her family’s Union Township apartment on Monday died of stab wounds, an autopsy found today, a day after her husband was charged with murdering her.

The medical examiner ruled the death of Cheryl Falls a homicide caused by knife wounds, prosecutor Theodore Romankow said.

Vincent Falls, 43, remained in custody today on $750,000 bail, the county prosecutor said. His 44-year-old wife was killed inside their apartment late Monday afternoon.

Their 19-year-old daughter, who suffered minor injuries, was treated and released, Romankow said.

Previous coverage:

• Husband arrested for killing wife in Union Township home

BLOOMINGDALE — An elderly barber, known as "mayor" in the Bloomingdale business district, died today from injuries suffered in a beating Friday, according to a report on NorthJersey.com. Frank Halat, 79, was attacked in his barbershop on Main Street, the report said. A customer found him lying on the floor just before 11:30 a.m. Family members suspect it was a...

BLOOMINGDALE — An elderly barber, known as "mayor" in the Bloomingdale business district, died today from injuries suffered in a beating Friday, according to a report on NorthJersey.com.

Frank Halat, 79, was attacked in his barbershop on Main Street, the report said. A customer found him lying on the floor just before 11:30 a.m. Family members suspect it was a robbery, but police have not determined a motive for the crime.

PARAMUS — Two chaperones are accused of having sex with students from New Jersey during a school trip to Germany. Paramus Catholic High School vice president of operations Artur Sopel and teacher Michael Sumulikoski are charged with sexual assault, child endangerment and hindering apprehension. They were arrested on Tuesday after a month-long investigation. Sumulikoski is accused of having sex...

Bergen County Prosecutor's OfficeArtur Sopel, left, and Michael Sumulikoski are accused with having sex with Paramus Catholic students while they chaperoned a trip to Germany

PARAMUS — Two chaperones are accused of having sex with students from New Jersey during a school trip to Germany.

Paramus Catholic High School vice president of operations Artur Sopel and teacher Michael Sumulikoski are charged with sexual assault, child endangerment and hindering apprehension.

They were arrested on Tuesday after a month-long investigation.

Sumulikoski is accused of having sex with one female student on the trip, which took place from Feb. 17 to Feb. 27.

Sopel is accused of engaging in sexual activities with two female students in Germany and having sex with another female student during the 2010 school year.

Sopel is held in the Bergen County Jail on $225,000 bail. Sumulikoski is held on $50,000 bail.

It's not clear whether either man has retained a lawyer.

Several weeks ago, Councilman Marty Small was also cleared

ATLANTIC CITY — State prosecutors have dropped charges against the six remaining defendants in an Atlantic City voter fraud case.

The decision comes weeks after jurors acquitted six others, including Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small.

Small and the others were arrested on charges that they mishandled absentee ballots in a bid to help Small win the 2009 Democratic mayoral primary.

Mayor Lorenzo Langford handily defeated Small.

Two defendants pleaded guilty, while the others opted for trial.

The Press of Atlantic City reports prosecutors said dropping the charges was appropriate in the interest of justice in light of the verdict.

Read the full story in the Press of Atlantic City.

Previous coverage:

• Jury clears Atlantic City councilman, 5 co-defendants in voter fraud trial

• Snickering brings judge's ire in Atlantic City vote fraud case

• Juror distraught over Atlantic City voter fraud trial is dismissed

• Deliberations in Atlantic City voter fraud trial enter third day

• Jurors still weighing fate of Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small in voter fraud trial

• Jury deliberations begin in voter fraud trial of Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small

• Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small forged absentee ballots, prosecutor says in closing statement

• Attorney: Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small's fraud trial based only on drug dealer's claim

NEWARK — Shalga Hightower clutched a photograph of her daughter, Iofemi, and cried as the man accused of hacking the young woman with a machete in a Newark schoolyard was convicted of murder Tuesday afternoon. "Thank you," Hightower whispered as each juror exited the courtroom following the verdict. "Thank you. Thank you..." After 20 hours of deliberations that stretched...

NEWARK — Shalga Hightower clutched a photograph of her daughter, Iofemi, and cried as the man accused of hacking the young woman with a machete in a Newark schoolyard was convicted of murder Tuesday afternoon. "Thank you," Hightower whispered as each juror exited the courtroom following the verdict. "Thank you. Thank you..."

After 20 hours of deliberations that stretched over four days, the jury convicted Alexander Alfaro in the Aug. 4, 2007, triple killing behind Mount Vernon School. He was one of six young men charged with setting upon four college-bounds friends that night, robbing them and brutalizing them in what prosecutors have called a gang-motivated attack.

Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey, both 20, and Terrance Aeriel, 18, were led down a flight of steps and stopped in front of a wall. It was there that Hightower was attacked with the machete, sustaining deep wounds on her head, hand, arm and back, a medical examiner said at trial.

The friends were told to put their hands in front of their faces, then each was shot in the back of the head. Terrance’s sister, Natasha Aeriel, then 19, was shot in the face a few yards away. She was the only one to survive.

The jury convicted Alfaro on 16 of 17 counts he faced, finding him not guilty in the attempted murder of Aeriel, who testified during the five-week trial, but had been unable to identify the defendant. She was not in court to hear the verdict, but her father, Troy Bradshaw, said, "she was good with it, as long as he got convicted on everything else."

Two defendants, including Alfaro’s half-brother, are already serving life sentences for their part in the killing, but for Shalga Hightower, justice arrived Tuesday.

"I was in seventh heaven when the verdict came. I wanted it so badly for her," Hightower said at a press conference afterward, surrounded by the parents and family members of the other victims, and still holding her daughter’s photo. "Maybe now Iofemi can rest in peace knowing that this one that did this to her is gone for life."

Alfaro, just 16 at the time of the killings, was tried as an adult and convicted under New Jersey’s accomplice liability statute, although he was never accused of shooting the victims. Alfaro now faces multiple life terms in prison when he is sentenced May 19.

JUROR QUESTIONS

His attorney, Raymond Morasse, pointed to a controversy that had erupted in court Tuesday morning, when it was announced one of the jurors has a criminal case pending in Essex County.

Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin rejected Morasse’s request for a mistrial in connection with that revelation, and the juror in question, identified as No. 3, was allowed to continue deliberating. One hour later, at 12:15 p.m., the jury passed a note saying it had a verdict.

That juror may have been the lone dissenting voice, Morasse said, but may have given up after her criminal case was revealed. He said the issue would be one aspect of a planned appeal.

Last year, it took a different set of jurors just four hours to convict Alfaro’s older half-brother, Rodolfo Godinez, 27, of the same killing. But this trial was different, in large part because Alfaro was so young at the time of the killing. In court, he wore thick black glasses and a meek expression, and in unexpected testimony last week, made the case that Godinez ordered him to the schoolyard with the machete, and forced him to join the violent Central American gang known as MS-13.

The trial always turned on whether the jury’s nine men and three women would accept the prosecution’s allegation that Alfaro willingly participated in "the swarm" that attacked the victims, who were all either enrolled in or planning to attend Delaware State University.

Morasse said Alfaro acted under duress, calling his client "just a scared kid" who was controlled by his menacing half-brother and gang leader, powerless to stop the violence. Alfaro admitted to the machete attack in a recorded statement he gave police that was played at trial, but denied it on the witness stand, saying a detective had coerced him to say that in exchange for a better deal.

Godinez had used the machete on Hightower, Alfaro said, then handed a gun to another defendant, Melvin Jovel, who shot all four victims. Jovel pleaded guilty last year to the shooting.

James Harvey, Dashon’s father, called the five-week trial "a roller coaster ride," but said the families will keep going to court "until we receive justice from each and everyone one of those defendants."

The three remaining defendants are Jose Carranza, now 32; Shahid Baskerville, now 19; and the youngest, Gerardo Gomez, 18 — he turned 15 on the day of the killings — who is Alfaro’s cousin.

Baskerville’s attorney has also filed notice of a duress defense, but Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas McTigue said Alfaro’s trial "demonstrated a jury is not going to be receptive to that defense."

Alfaro’s actions that August night, he said, "did not require any act of physical heroism" to prevent or even avoid the crime. "It required a degree of morality."

"No matter what a person tells you to do, commands you to do, threatens you to do, you still know right from wrong," Shalga Hightower said. "The bottom line is he knew right from wrong and the jury definitely saw through that."

NEWARK — A senior associate at a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm was arrested by the FBI this morning on federal securities fraud charges in connection with a $30 million scheme that allowed him to trade on insider information related to pending corporate mergers, officials said. Matthew Kluger, who specialized in merger and acquisitions for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich &...

Star-Ledger file U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman is pictured outside the federal courthouse in Newark, where today two men will be arraigned on charges in connection with a $30 million scheme trading on insider information.

NEWARK — A senior associate at a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm was arrested by the FBI this morning on federal securities fraud charges in connection with a $30 million scheme that allowed him to trade on insider information related to pending corporate mergers, officials said.

Matthew Kluger, who specialized in merger and acquisitions for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Newark later today, along with banker Garret Bauer, who allegedly traded on the information Kluger provided.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman and FBI officials are expected to detail the charges later at a news conference today at noon.

Attorneys for Kluger and Bauer could not be immediately reached for comment.

Officials at the U.S. Attorney’s office said the decades-long scheme involved insider trading based on information stolen from not only from Sonsini Goodrich, but also from the law firms of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom — where Kluger had previously worked.

According to Sonsini Goodrich’s website, Kluger had been an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, as well as associate general counsel at Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., a Fortune 500 automotive retailer.