Federal agents in Puerto Rico have arrested 22 alleged members of a gang responsible for at least 10 homicides

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico —Federal agents in Puerto Rico have arrested 22 alleged members of a gang responsible for at least 10 homicides across the U.S. territory.

Local FBI Director Joseph Campbell says agents are looking for another five suspects. He said Thursday that additional suspects are being arrested in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

He said the suspects face a grand jury indictment on charges including possession and distribution of cocaine, heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana.

Puerto Rico faces what it expects to be a record number of killings this year.

Police say 860 people have been killed so far this year, compared with 724 people reported killed in the same period last year.

Related coverage:

• Five fugitives arrested, including three gang members, sex offender

• N.J. State Police, feds, capture one of N.J.'s most wanted in Puerto Rico

Fugitive for more than 40 years lived West African nation of Guinea-Bissau under his real name during the 1980s

Tiago Petinga/EPAAn exterior view of the house where wanted U.S. citizen George Edward Wright lived for more than 20 years, in Casas Novas, Sintra, Portugal, police said. Wright, one of the most wanted U.S. criminals, was captured in Portugal after 41 years on the run.

LISBON, Portugal — An American fugitive who once hijacked a plane lived openly in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau during the 1980s under his real name and even knew U.S. embassy officials there, a former U.S. ambassador said today.

Retired Guinea-Bissau Ambassador John Blacken told The Associated Press he was stunned to hear the news of George Wright's arrest Monday in Portugal because he and his colleagues did not know Wright was a fugitive.

He said embassy officials would have taken action if they had known Wright had escaped from jail in New Jersey while serving time for murder and was wanted in a 1972 hijacking by the Black Liberation Army, a radical U.S. group, that diverted a U.S. plane to Algeria.

"All this was a big surprise, my goodness, murder and everything else," Blacken said in an phone interview from Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau. "No one imagined him being a murderer, of course we didn't know him that well. He seemed like an ordinary person and not radical at all."

Blacken remembered meeting Wright socially in the former Portuguese colony in where Blacken was ambassador from 1986 to 1989.

"If we had received such a cable, we would have responded," Blacken added. "He was known as George Wright here, and it's strange that (U.S. officials) never tracked him down here."

His comments raised questions about the effectiveness of the FBI manhunt for Wright, who managed to elude authorities worldwide for 41 years even while using his own name or the Portuguese variant of "Jorge."

A fingerprint contained on Wright's Portuguese ID card was the break that led a U.S. fugitive task force to him, according to U.S. authorities. But for decades his file was in the unsolved "cold cases" section for U.S. law enforcement.

Bracken could not recall what sort of work Wright did in Guinea-Bisseau, a tiny nation on the Atlantic Ocean. He said he remembered Wright's Portuguese wife, Maria do Rosario Valente, better because she had worked as a freelance Portuguese-English translator. He could not remember exactly what projects Wright's wife worked on, but said some could have been for U.S. embassy or for a Guinea-Bissau trade project he launched in 1993.

Wright and his wife were already married when Blacken knew them, and he did not know how they met or where they married.

Wright has lived for at least the last two decades in Portugal, and a photocopy of his Portuguese residency card viewed by the AP listed his home country as Guinea-Bissau.

File photoGeorge Wright, age 27 when this photo was taken, was caught in Portugal after more than 40 years on the lam.

A woman who answered the phone at the Guinea-Bissau embassy in Lisbon said no one was available to comment on whether Wright obtained citizenship from the African nation.

Wright's arrest has generated intense media interest in Portugal. International camera crews were staked out Thursday around his pretty house on a cobbled street not far from a stunning Atlantic Ocean beach in Almocageme, 28 miles (45 kilometers) west of Lisbon.

Wright was being held in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, pending extradition hearings. He has asked to be released during the extradition process, and the court is considering his request, according to U.S. officials.

The superior court in Lisbon handling the U.S. extradition request declined to provide the AP with documents relating to the case, or the name of Wright's lawyer. Under Portuguese law, only those directly involved in a case have access to the documents. Attendance at court sessions is also restricted to the parties involved, unless the judge grants an exception.

If a court grants his extradition to the U.S., Wright could appeal to Portugal's Supreme Court and then to the Constitutional Court, a process likely to last months.

Blacken said he didn't remember whether Wright registered with the U.S. Embassy in Guinea-Bissau in the 1980s. He said he had no knowledge of whether Wright obtained citizenship in Guinea-Bissau, but said it probably wouldn't have been hard for him to do so.

"A person living here for over a period of time who wants to apply for citizenship can normally get it regardless of his background," Blacken said.

The leftist authorities in Guinea-Bissau might have even been impressed if Wright had told them about his past, said Jan Van Maanen, a Dutch businessman who serves as honorary consul for the Netherlands and Britain in Guinea-Bissau.

At the time, the nation was a one-party Socialist state that strictly controlled the media, was very sympathetic to revolutionaries and had embassies from many Communist countries.

"In the 70s and the 80s, they used to use passports and therefore nationality as something to decorate people with," Van Maanen said. "In our culture they use a medal or a nice-looking paper as a sign of appreciation. Here in Guinea-Bissau they used passports, saying 'We're so proud of you and here is your passport.'"

Wright was convicted of the 1962 murder of gas station owner Walter Patterson, a decorated World War II veteran shot during a robbery at his business in Wall, New Jersey.

Eight years into his 15- to 30-year prison term, Wright and three other men escaped from the Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey, on Aug. 19, 1970. While on the run, the FBI said Wright joined an underground militant group, the Black Liberation Army, and lived with some members in Detroit.

In 1972, Wright — dressed as a priest and using an alias — is accused of hijacking a Delta flight from Detroit to Miami along with other Black Liberation Army members. The hijackers identified themselves to passengers as a Black Panther group, police said.

After releasing the plane's 86 other passengers in exchange for a $1 million ransom, the hijackers forced the plane to fly to Boston, then onto Algeria, where the hijackers sought asylum.

Algerian officials returned the plane and the money to the United States but allowed the hijackers to stay.

Wright and the group left Algeria by boat to Europe in late 1972 or early 1973 and settled in France, where they got jobs and lived together, said Mikhael Ganouna, producer of the 2010 documentary "Nobody Knows my Name" about the hijacking.

But Wright left the group after breaking up with a girlfriend, and Ganouna said no one knew where he went. Wright's associates were subsequently tracked down, arrested and convicted in Paris in 1976. The French government, however, refused to extradite them to the U.S.

Until his arrest Monday, life was quiet and sweet for Wright in the Portuguese hamlet of Almocageme, where neighbors said he lived for at least 20 years with his wife and two children, now in their 20s.

Locals knew him as Jorge Santos, a friendly man from Africa who did odd jobs and spoke fluent Portuguese. Over the years, he worked as a nightclub bouncer, a beach stall salesman and ran a barbecue chicken restaurant, neighbors said.

His wife answered the door Wednesday at their whitewashed house in Almocageme but refused to comment on her husband's arrest.

At their front gate, a black mailbox in the shape of a barn carried the words "U.S. Mail."

A 50-year-old man, Anthony James, was arrested at the scene on charges of murder and weapons offenses

Google MapsAuthorities suspect a woman was fatally stabbed on the 300-block of East Seventh Street in Plainfield on Wednesday as a result of a domestic dispute.

PLAINFIELD — A domestic dispute inside a Plainfield residence ended Wednesday when a man repeatedly stabbed his live-in girlfriend, killing the 48-year-old woman, authorities said today.

Police found Audrey Tanksley’s body, riddled with multiple knife wounds, around 5 p.m. Wednesday at a residence on the 300-block of East Seventh Street, said Albert Cernadas Jr, Union County’s first assistant prosecutor. She was dead when officers arrived, the prosecutor’s office said.

Her 50-year-old live-in boyfriend, Anthony James, was arrested at the scene on charges of murder and weapons offenses, Cernadas said. The couple had been living in the home for about three years, authorities said.

The prosecutor’s office would not say how many times the woman was stabbed or what type of knife was used. The results of an autopsy haven’t been released.

James is being held at the Union County jail on $1 million bail, Cernadas said.

More Plainfield news

HAMMONTON — Two fugitives apprehended after fleeing to Cuba were in Superior Court in Atlantic County today to face charges for the September 2010 murder of a 23-year-old man whose body was found in a burning car. Denis Catania and Diana Camacho also face kidnapping and arson charges in the death of Ross Heimlich of Voorhees Township, Atlantic County...

Google MapsA map view of Hammonton, where a burned body was found in the back seat of a car.

HAMMONTON — Two fugitives apprehended after fleeing to Cuba were in Superior Court in Atlantic County today to face charges for the September 2010 murder of a 23-year-old man whose body was found in a burning car.

Denis Catania and Diana Camacho also face kidnapping and arson charges in the death of Ross Heimlich of Voorhees Township, Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said in a statement today.

Heimlich's body was found in the burning car Sept. 29, 2010. Authorities said the victim had suffered blunt force trauma.

Investigators learned Catania and Camacho fled from New Jersey immediately after the murder, first going to Florida, then to various Caribbean counties, including Cuba, Housel said.

U.S. Marshals took custody of the suspects Wednesday in Cuba and turned them over to Atlantic County authorities today, Housel said.

Previous coverage:

• Body found in burning car in Hammonton is identified

• Body burned beyond recognition is found in car in Atlantic County

A Pennsylvania judge ruled after a preliminary hearing that Colin Abbott will be tried on homicide and abuse-of-corpse charges

Colin Abbott

BUTLER, Pa. — A Morris County man has been ordered to stand trial in the deaths of his father and stepmother, whose charred remains were found at their estate in western Pennsylvania.

A judge in Butler County ruled Thursday after a preliminary hearing that Colin Abbott will be tried on homicide and abuse-of-corpse charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

State police say the 41-year-old from Randolph killed Kenneth and Celeste Abbott sometime in early June.

Colin Abbott allegedly told relatives that the couple died in a fiery car crash in New Jersey. But New Jersey authorities could not confirm the accident and alerted police in Pennsylvania.

State troopers went to the Abbotts' home near Slippery Rock and found burned remains.

The judge has issued a gag order in the case.

Previous coverage:

• Randolph man accused of killing father, stepmother can't access their assets, Pa. judge rules

• Randolph man charged with killing father, stepmother is arraigned in Pennsylvania

• Attorney for Randolph man accused of murder defends client, who waives right to extradition hearing

• Randolph man charged with killing father, stepmother to be moved to Pennsylvania jail

This is the second person arrested during the rally over the fatal shooting of Barry Deloatch in the Middlesex County city.

Patti Sapone/The Star- Ledger Holding photos of Barry Deloatch people protest on the corner of Handy St and Throop Ave in New Brunswick. Deloatch, 47, was shot and killed New Brunswick police.

NEW BRUNSWICK — New Brunswick police arrested a man Thursday for allegedly punching a driver who was trying to pass through demonstrators protesting the Sept. 22 fatal police shooting of a city resident.

This was the second person arrested during a rally over the fatal shooting of Barry Deloatch, 46, in an alley behind 105 Throop Ave. Both men who were arrested remain in the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick.

Andre Showell, 47, of North Brunswick, was arrested about 6:24 p.m. Thursday on charges he hit emergency service dispatcher in the face with a water bottle, police Lt. J.T. Miller said. About 50 demonstrators were in the street in front of the city train station, Miller said.

He said the 47-year-old victim was going to work at the nearby Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital when he was stopped by traffic.

The driver tried to get the attention of the demonstrators to get through the crowd when Showell approached and assaulted him, Miller said. He said the driver was taken to the hospital where he was treated for a facial laceration.

This was the latest of several demonstrations since the shooting, and New Brunswick police have been present at each rally, Miller said.

Showell was charged with aggravated assault on medical personnel and failure to disperse, the lieutenant said. Showell was being held today on bail at the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick.

At 10:40 a.m. last Saturday, Michael White, 50, was arrested in a rally at the same intersection and charged with aggravated assault for allegedly punching the driver of a Middlesex County minibus, police said.

White was also charged with aggravated assault on an officer for allegedly spiting on police, and charged with refusing to be fingerprinted, Miller said. White was also being held at the jail today, officials said.

Demonstrators have stages several largely peaceful rallies and marches since the shooting.

Authorities said that about 12:10 a.m. on Sept. 22, Deloatch ran from officers who approached him and two other men on Throop Avenue. Deloatch ran down the alley and two officers followed.

Authorities said Deloatch suffered a gunshot wound to his left side and aorta.

Relatives of Deloatch said a witness told them that he was shot in the back.

The two officers have been placed on adminstrative leave. Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce stated investigators recovered a bullet from the shooting scene, and the bullet and the officer's gun have been sent to outside lab, along with other items, for examination.

Relatives of Deloatch have called for an agency outside Middlesex County to investigate the case.

OLD BRIDGE — At least four times in the last two weeks, a man has walked into an Old Bridge Township supermarket, reached into a woman's pocketbook and stolen her wallet or credit cards. At least twice the man even pretended to ask the victim for help, and distracted her while going into the handbag, police said. And he had...

OLD BRIDGE — At least four times in the last two weeks, a man has walked into an Old Bridge Township supermarket, reached into a woman's pocketbook and stolen her wallet or credit cards.

At least twice the man even pretended to ask the victim for help, and distracted her while going into the handbag, police said.

And he had probably committed similar thefts in several other counties.

Old Bridge police today released security camera photos of the man, said to be African-American, about 6-feet tall and heavy-set.

The first theft in Old Bridge occurred in mid-September, police Detective Glenn Smalley said. In some cases the thief stole from bags left unattended in shopping carts, Smalley said. Sometimes a wallet was taken and then discarded after the credit cards were stolen, he said.

He received information about similar crimes in other Middlesex County towns, as well has in Monmouth, Union and Bergen counties.

More Old Bridge news

A 16-year-old Plainfield boy and a known city gang member, were arrested Friday morning and charged in connection with a March killing

Alexandra Pais/New Jersey Local News ServiceA Plainfield cop car in this 2009 file photo. Plainfield police arrested a 16-year-old and well known gang member Friday, charging him in connection with a March killing.

PLAINFIELD — A 16-year-old Plainfield boy and a known city gang member, were arrested Friday morning and charged in connection with a March killing.

Jordan Camacho, 18, a known member of the G-Shine set of the Bloods street gang was arrested at his home Friday, and police also charged a 16-year-old youth, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

They are charged with shooting and killing Nelson Santos-Betances at the intersection of 3rd and Monroe Street in Plainfield on March 21.

Camacho is being held at the Union County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail. The juvenile was taken to Jamesburg Youth Correctional Facility in Middlesex County.

This is the third homicide arrest of an alleged G-Shine gang member in two days. Thursday prosecutors arrested Ishaq "O’shist" Saleem and Haleem "Holla" McCoy, both of Plainfield, on charges of killing Keith "Duca" Hathaway in November. Prosecutors would not say whether the incidents were related.

Read more Plainfield news

Matthews, 33, of Linden, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree reckless manslaughter in the Feb. 25, 2010, death of Xavier Gentleman

ELIZABETH — Diana Matthews stared at the floor as Assistant Prosecutor Ann Luvera described the injuries that led to the death of her 2-year-old foster son.

"His face looked like he had been in a boxing match," Luvera said at Matthews’ sentencing in Superior Court in Union County Friday.

Matthews, 33, of Linden, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree reckless manslaughter in the Feb. 25, 2010, death of Xavier Gentleman.

She had raised the boy from infancy and was his legal guardian, as well as the guardian of his two siblings, in addition to her own three sons.

But under her care, the boy was habitually beaten over a six-month period leading to his death, prosecutors said.

"The defendant had a duty to care for the victim," Judge Joseph Donohue said before passing sentence on Matthews. "When she became aware her own children were mistreating X.G., the abuse was ignored. She violated her duty as caregiver."

Prosecutors would not say which children abused the boy. Xavier’s siblings were 2 months and 18 months old at the time of his death. Matthews’ sons were 9, 10 and 12.

Matthews’ sons now live with their father, and Xavier’s siblings were placed in foster care after their brother’s death, authorities said. None of the children has been charged, prosecutors said.

Public defender Peter Liguori asked the judge for leniency in determining how much of the suggested 10-year sentence Matthews would serve.

"The infliction of pain in and of itself can’t be attributed to Ms. Matthews," Liguori said. "She turned her back on X.G. while others inflicted pain on this child."

Matthews wore a blue prison uniform and declined to speak at her sentencing.

Vanessa Gentleman, Xavier’s biological mother and a friend of Matthews’, spoke of her conflicted feelings.

"Part of me feels like she needs help and prison isn’t the place to get that," Gentleman said. "The other part feels like I don’t have my son anymore and she took him from me."

Gentleman served more than two years in state prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl she had mentored in a middle school, according to State Police. She was released in 2005 and is under lifetime parole supervision.

In court Friday, Gentleman said her 3-year-old daughter who had also lived with Matthews is in therapy.

"She replays everything that happened in that house," Gentleman said.

Matthews’ husband, sister and other family members and friends attended the sentencing but declined to comment.

Matthews was investigated by child welfare officials five times in the past decade, most recently in September 2009, and four other times from 2000 to 2006 on various allegations, including drug use, authorities said. A case history report said the drug use claims were substantiated, but the others were not.

The state Department of Children and Families launched an investigation last year after Xavier’s death and reviewed all contacts made with Matthews and the children, a spokeswoman said.

George Wright's new identity was given to him by West African country Guinea-Bissau when it granted him political asylum in the 1980s and was accepted by Portugal, his attorney said

Tiago Petinga/EPAAn exterior view of the house where wanted U.S. citizen George Edward Wright lived for more than 20 years, in Casas Novas, Sintra, Portugal, police said. Wright, one of the most wanted U.S. criminals, was captured in Portugal after 41 years on the run.

LISBON, Portugal — Captured American fugitive George Wright will claim a new identity to prevent the U.S. from extraditing him, his lawyer said today.

Wright, 68, became a Portuguese citizen, called Jose Luis Jorge dos Santos, in 1991 after marrying a Portuguese woman, lawyer Manuel Luis Ferreira told The Associated Press.

Ferreira said in an interview that Wright's new identity was given to him by West African country Guinea-Bissau when it granted him political asylum in the 1980s and was accepted by Portugal.

The U.S. is trying to extradite Wright to serve the remainder of his 15- to 30-year sentence for a 1962 murder in New Jersey. He had served more than seven years before breaking out of prison in 1970.

AP PhotoGeorge Wright in a 1963 mugshot.

But Ferreira said his client insists he has the right to serve the time in Portugal because he has Portuguese citizenship based on his new identity.

"As a Portuguese citizen, if he has to answer to any authority or if he has to serve any sentence, it has to be to Portuguese authorities and in Portuguese territory," Ferreira said.

Ferreira also hopes to persuade the Lisbon judge hearing the case to allow Wright to serve any outstanding jail time in his adopted country because that is where his wife and grown son and daughter live.

Ferreira is due to present his written arguments to the judge on Thursday.

Wright broke out of the Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey, on Aug. 19, 1970, after serving more than seven years of his sentence for killing a man in a 1962 gas station robbery. He was also part of a Black Liberation Army group that hijacked a U.S. plane to Algeria in 1972.

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney, reached via email, declined to comment on Ferreira's arguments.

Wright was captured in a seaside village near Lisbon on Monday and is detained while the court rules on his case. Until his arrest, Wright spent decades living with his Portuguese family near Lisbon.

Related coverage:

• Captured N.J. fugitive lived openly in Africa

• A fugitive's quiet life in Portugal: Seaside village, friendly neighbors

• Man who escaped from N.J. prison 41 years ago is captured in Portugal

A southern New Jersey man who fatally shot his girlfriend and tried to make it look like a suicide has been sentenced to life in prison

TOMS RIVER — A southern New Jersey man who fatally shot his girlfriend and tried to make it look like a suicide has been sentenced to life in prison.

Forty-year-old William McMillan of Lakewood also received a 20-year concurrent term on Friday for a weapons offense. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence — nearly 67 years — before becoming eligible for parole.

McMillan, who was convicted in June on murder charges by an Ocean County jury, has maintained his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict. He claims 26-year-old Shakita Crudup — the mother of four young children — was shot accidentally during a struggle for a handgun.

Authorities say that after the shooting occurred, McMillan put the loaded gun in Crudup's hand and fled the home.

Previous coverage:

• Ocean County indicts man for murder of girlfriend

WARREN COUNTY — A Princeton man is in custody this afternoon after he carjacked a Lexus with two children inside earlier today, State Police said. The children's mother had stopped the car to help the man, Justin Mercer, 20, who was involved in an accident on I-80 in Warren County, according to police . Mercer later dropped the children...

Courtesy of State PoliceJustin Mercer

WARREN COUNTY — A Princeton man is in custody this afternoon after he carjacked a Lexus with two children inside earlier today, State Police said.

The children's mother had stopped the car to help the man, Justin Mercer, 20, who was involved in an accident on I-80 in Warren County, according to police .

Mercer later dropped the children off unharmed at a Hackettstown bank, and then stole another car, a Nissan Pathfinder SUV. He finally was apprehended following a high-speed chase through several counties after he crashed on I-280 in West Orange, police said.

More details on the incident were forthcoming from the State Police, but an agency spokesman, Sgt. Brian Polite, said Mercer was injured in the crash and that no one else was hurt.

More Warren County news

NEW BRUNSWICK — Two people were arrested Friday protesting the fatal police shooting of a New Brunswick man. Tormel Pitmann, 35, of New Brunswick, and Gabriella Aron, 19, North Brunswick, were arrested about 6:40 p.m. Friday and charged with obstructing a highway or passage, police Lt. J. T. Miller said. Pitmann and Aron were among 40 to 50 people...

NEW BRUNSWICK — Two people were arrested Friday protesting the fatal police shooting of a New Brunswick man.

Tormel Pitmann, 35, of New Brunswick, and Gabriella Aron, 19, North Brunswick, were arrested about 6:40 p.m. Friday and charged with obstructing a highway or passage, police Lt. J. T. Miller said.

Pitmann and Aron were among 40 to 50 people protesting the Sept. 22 shooting of Barry Deloatch, 47, of New Brunswick, who was shot in an alley behind 105 Throop Ave. about 12:10 a.m.

Pitmann and Aron were at the intersection of Throop Avenue and Handy Street, near the scene of the shooting, when they were arrested, Miller said.

He said officers had ordered protests to get out of the street.

The arrests bring the number people arrested during the almost-daily protests to four.

Previous coverage:

• Man arrested in New Brunswick for allegedly punching driver during demonstration

• Demonstrators in New Brunswick continue to protest fatal shooting of man by police

• Demanding inquiry into alleged police brutality, protesters descend upon New Brunswick city hall

• Relatives of New Brunswick shooting victim allege he was running away when he was shot

• Man is fatally shot by New Brunswick police during scuffle

PLAINFIELD — A Plainfield school board member with a criminal past is challenging the legality of a new state law expected to lead to his removal from office. Earlier this year, Rasheed Abdul-Haqq became the poster boy of those who said the law — which requires all New Jersey board of education members to undergo criminal background checks, just...

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerRasheed Abdul-Haqq is seeking an injunction to delay his removal, and also asking the court to consider striking down the retroactive component of the law.

PLAINFIELD — A Plainfield school board member with a criminal past is challenging the legality of a new state law expected to lead to his removal from office.

Earlier this year, Rasheed Abdul-Haqq became the poster boy of those who said the law — which requires all New Jersey board of education members to undergo criminal background checks, just like employees — is too strict. Under the new rules, the 68-year-old is disqualified from serving because of a conviction for having a small bag of heroin in 1968.

An admitted user and a low-level dealer until that time, Abdul-Haqq, who was born Bradford Reed, said the eight months he spent in a state reformatory changed him. When he returned to Plainfield, he became a part of the city’s Muslim community, worked as county corrections officer and later a business owner. He kept a clean record since 1970, save a 1981 conviction for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct — the end result, he says, of a traffic stop.

In a lawsuit filed in state Superior Court, Abdul-Haqq doesn’t argue he should be allowed to run for office again — just that he should be allowed to finish his term.

His main point: The state can’t pass a retroactive law like this one.

"This new law represents an unprecedented attempt to alter the results of ... a school board election or the decision of a mayor to appoint a person as a member of a school board," the complaint, filed by attorney Robert Pickett, says.

The Plainfield school board, Union County and four local voters are also listed as plaintiffs. They are suing the state, the Department of Education and Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf.

The new law, signed in May by Gov. Chris Christie, bans service on local and charter school boards by those convicted of certain crimes — first- and second-degree drug possessions included.

Background checks for current board members have been taking place in recent months and letters of disqualification are being sent to school districts and board members who don’t pass, according to Richard Vespucci, a spokeswoman for the state education department.

In Atlantic City, school board member George Crouch was removed earlier this month. The 42-year-old pleaded guilty to the manufacture and distribution of narcotics in 1992 and was sentenced to five years in prison, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty in 1988 to a weapons possession charge and was sentenced to 18 months.

The education department declined to comment on the lawsuit because it is pending. The state Office of the Attorney General also declined, citing office policy on ongoing cases.

Abdul-Haqq is seeking an injunction to delay his removal, and also asking the court to consider striking down the retroactive component of the law. His attorney said that removing board members in the middle of a term would mean a violation of the constitution’s "ex-post facto" clause, which expressly forbids laws that retroactively change legal consequences. It’s also a concern for citizens who supported anyone the law removes, Pickett said.

"It sort of disenfranchises some voters as to their choice at the election," he said last week. "The voters voted for him. They had every intention of seeing him see out his term."

The state has filed a motion opposing the lawsuit and requesting the court dismiss the case. Case law provides for retroactive laws where there is a "legitimate legislative purpose," the state argues.

"There can be no doubt that (the new law) supports a legitimate legislative purpose: to hold members of local boards of education to the same high standards as the employees they supervise."

But The New Jersey School Boards Association, which is urging compliance with the law, claims the school ethics act prohibits board members from having more access to school buildings than ordinary citizens.

"Second, while I cannot comment on the court action at this time, it may be noted that, to our knowledge, the law requiring criminal background checks for school employees, which was enacted in the mid-1980s, was not applied retroactively," said Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the group.

Keith Williams and Karim Sampson, a pair of Bloods gang members known to Trenton authorities, thought they had a snitch in their midst. So in April of 2008, authorities allege, they planned to kill him. "If I had my wifey (gun), I’d get it done," Sampson told Williams, according to court records. "But you’ve got (a gun), so it’s...

Courtesy of the Union County Prosecutor's OfficeA YouTube video belonging to a Roselle street gang. Police believe gangs are using the Internet to broadcast their image to larger audiences, and it's serving as a recruitment tool.

Keith Williams and Karim Sampson, a pair of Bloods gang members known to Trenton authorities, thought they had a snitch in their midst. So in April of 2008, authorities allege, they planned to kill him.

"If I had my wifey (gun), I’d get it done," Sampson told Williams, according to court records. "But you’ve got (a gun), so it’s on you."

The men knew they had to hurry, court records show. Their victim — 20-year-old fellow Blood Arrel Bell — was planning a trip.

"He’s supposed to be going to New York for two weeks. I can’t risk him not coming back," Sampson said.

"Then that (expletive) ain’t coming back," Williams replied. "We’ve got 48 hours."

This conventional crime has a new age twist. Authorities didn’t use a wiretap to capture the conversation between Sampson and Williams, and they didn’t stitch it together from eyewitness accounts. The two gang members wrote it all down in a series of MySpace messages, according to court records, where they discussed the killing of another human being in between "LOL"s.

Over the past few years, investigators in New Jersey have noticed an uptick in online activity by street gangs. And as they use web sites like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube to discuss and conduct business, authorities say they are also leaving behind evidence that helps investigators gather intelligence and make arrests.

But gangs can use the internet to their advantage too.

By using social media to brag about crimes and broadcast the glitzy image of gang life to a wider audience than ever before, authorities believe gangbangers are drawing people into a life that seems appealing, but almost always ends bloody.

"It used to be if a gang member drove by with a fancy car and nice sneakers they would see that in person. Well now they’re seeing it on their phones, they’re seeing it on the internet," said Sgt. Michael Hoose, head of the Union County Prosecutor’s high-tech crimes unit. "The virtual doors and windows are open in everyone’s home. The access is just unbelievable."

‘WEB BANGING’

Rather than explicitly recruit, police say gangs use social media to glorify the fast cash and fast friends that supposedly come from gang life. The method isn’t new, but the medium provides gangs with an incalculably large audience.

"Now they get kids from throughout the city, throughout the county," said Thomas Fennelly, head the Essex County Prosecutor’s V.I.P.E.R. Unit, which oversees gang activity in Newark. "Because if it’s on the internet or YouTube, people can log on from anywhere."

Gang members also invite thousands of people to parties and post home movies on Facebook and YouTube, according to Anthony Cox, a V.I.P.E.R. Unit detective, who said the gatherings sometimes turn into recruitment sessions.

"A lot of gangs now are getting into movies," Cox said. "If they’re shooting a movie, if you come along, eventually you’re gonna be part of their set."

"Web banging," as some cops call it, grants gangs access to younger recruits, some as young as 10-years-old, according to Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow.

Courtesy of the Union County Prosecutor's OfficeA gang member's Facebook page, displaying bullets, a gun magazine and a bandana. Police believe gangs are using the Internet to broadcast their image to larger audiences, and it's serving as a recruitment tool.

The desire for baby-faced bangers is simple, he said. Cops won’t check a pre-teen for weapons or drugs when they have a crew of full-grown gang members to worry about.

"There is some concern that they’re doing it in the grammar schools. This is a real problem," Romankow said. "Once they get them in, they start using them to transport drugs."

Some gang members make profiles for their gang persona, a "fan page," that’s "like wearing your colors," Hoose said.

Last year, a feud between two gang groups over a basketball game led to a beating in Union County, Romankow said. Not long after the assault, he said, a video was posted to YouTube with the victorious group standing over their victims, flashing stacks of money.

"What they’re doing is they are showing young kids that this is a way of life that they can live," he said "And it’s cool."

THE TRAP

Bragging can backfire.

The four men accused in Bell’s slaying were on law enforcement’s radar long before they allegedly plotted to kill the 20-year-old in MySpace conversations, said Frank Clayton, a retired gang investigator.

As the Bloods gained a stranglehold on Trenton’s streets and MySpace surged in popularity, Clayton took the reach the internet provides gangsters and used it against them.

He assembled a team of interns at the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and charged them with "friending" as many gang members as they could. They created fake profiles, pretending to be prospective gang members and attractive young girls. One profile gained at least 180 friends.

Navigating web sites flooded with pictures of gang members flashing hand signs and handguns, Clayton and his crew identified countless members of Trenton gang sets. The defendants in Bell’s killing called themselves the "Swag Boys" online, and were "friends" with other members of the Sex, Money, Murder Bloods set.

The Bell murder trial is still pending, so Clayton wouldn’t say how investigators secured a warrant to view Sampson and Williams’ private MySpace conversations. But he did say the suspects routinely sent out online invites to gang parties and often posted pictures where they flashed gang signs or appeared next to other known gangbangers.

At the height of its popularity, Clayton said, MySpace was a hot spot for gang intelligence.

"They discuss beefs up there, message each other where they were gonna have meetings … they would announce gang parties through MySpace," he said. "If somebody died, there were lots of posts."

BEYOND JERSEY'S BORDERS

In its 2009 national threat assessment, the Department of Justice noted street gangs were beginning to use "MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook as well as personal web pages" to boast about gang activity and recruit. The report cited examples of the Crips using the internet to recruit new members and intimidate rivals in Virginia and California.

Cox also pointed to the thehoodup.com, a message board where gang members discuss set disputes and sometimes post recruitment messages.

Various threads on the web site’s East Coast page discuss gang beefs in New York City and New Jersey. In one conversation, commenters argue about the arrests of alleged Newark Bloods bosses Narik "Spaz" Wilson and Al-Shareef "Hard Head" Metz in August.

In one post, a Bronx gang called "Aces" says it’s looking for new members.

"we locted in the metropolitan area in the bronx, my hood 2140 get @ me," the post reads.

Whether the recruiting is intentional or not, police say the anonymity and reach social media provides gangs is extremely troubling.

"They can reach anyone who has access to technology," Hoose said. "They don’t have to drive by and put themselves in harm’s way. They can do it from their home."

SADDLE BROOK — Two New York men changing a flat tire on the side of an I-80 exit were killed Sunday morning by an allegedly drunk driver who is now charged with vehicular homicide, state police said. Wilfredo Pena stopped his Lincoln Towncar on a striped section of the roadway between exits 62B and 62A – an area between...

Google MapsTwo men from New York changing a flat tire on the side of I-80 were killed by an allegedly drunk driver early Sunday morning. The driver was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide.

SADDLE BROOK — Two New York men changing a flat tire on the side of an I-80 exit were killed Sunday morning by an allegedly drunk driver who is now charged with vehicular homicide, state police said.

Wilfredo Pena stopped his Lincoln Towncar on a striped section of the roadway between exits 62B and 62A – an area between two active roadways – according to Sgt. Brian Polite. Both Pena and Segundo Fernandez-Urena, his passenger, got out to change the flat.

At about 2:39 a.m., Jacob Cintron, a 29-year-old Lodi resident, lost control of his Hyundai as he was taking the 62B exit, and crashed into the side of the car where the two men were changing the tire. Both Pena – 43, of the Bronx – and Fernandez-Urena – 28, of Bayshore, N.Y. – were pronounced dead at the scene shortly afterward.

Cintron was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, and driving while intoxicated, Polite said. He was taken to the Bergen County Jail, and bail was set at $125,000 with no 10-percent option.

Maria do Rosario Valente says her husband told her he escaped from a U.S. jail but never revealed he had been convicted of murder and accused of a dramatic airplane hijacking

FBIGeorge Wright in a 1972 photo

LISBON, Portugal — The wife of captured American fugitive George Wright says her husband told her he escaped from a U.S. jail but never revealed he had been convicted of murder and accused of a dramatic airplane hijacking.

Maria do Rosario Valente says she was shocked to learn about her husband's past after his capture in Portugal last week after 41 years on the lam. She told Portugal's TVI television: "Now I've found out the rest."

The U.S. is trying to extradite Wright, a former East Orange resident, to serve the remainder of his 15- to 30-year sentence for a 1962 New Jersey murder.

Police say he was one of those who hijacked a U.S. plane to Algeria in 1972.

Valente told TVI late Sunday she never really believed Wright's jail escape story — until now.

Previous coverage:

• Captured N.J. fugitive married, had 2 children while in Portugal

• Man who escaped from N.J. prison 41 years ago is captured in Portugal

Public schools across New Jersey will teach about preventing harassment, intimidation and bullying during the week.

Natalia Jiminez/The Star-LedgerStudents at Long Branch Middle School wear anti-bullying T-shirts in this February file photo.

TRENTON — New Jersey is holding its first "Week of Respect" as mandated by the state's new anti-bullying law.

Public schools across New Jersey will teach about preventing harassment, intimidation and bullying during the week.

The state's anti-bullying law, signed in January, is considered the toughest in the country. New Jersey had previously recommended schools have anti-bullying policies, but now they're required.

The law was adopted after the suicide last year of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University freshman whose roommate is accused of using a webcam to spy on Clementi's intimate encounter with another man.

Related coverage:

• N.J. schools institute new Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights

• N.J. Gov. Christie approves toughest anti-bullying law in the country

State officials allege All Care Chimney preyed on elderly and disabled homeowners, charging customers thousands of dollars for chimney repairs, then either did not perform the work or did it incorrectly

Patti Sapone/The Star-LedgerSuperior Court Judge Glenn Berman addresses the court during a motion hearing at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick in this file photo. Today, Deputy State Attorney General Cathleen O'Donnell told Judge Berman All Care Chimney preyed on elderly and disabled homeowners.

NEW BRUNSWICK — Calling the evidence against them "substantial," a Superior Court Judge today ordered a Long-Island chimney repair company to stop operating in New Jersey, pending a full hearing.

State officials allege All Care Chimney preyed on elderly and disabled homeowners, charging customers thousands of dollars for chimney repairs, then either did not perform the work or did it incorrectly.

"These are consumers who don't even know if the repairs were done correctly or adequately or were even needed in the first place," Deputy State Attorney General Cathleen O'Donnell told Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman in New Brunswick.

Berman, responding to a complaint from the state Division of Consumer Affairs, issued a temporary restraining order against the company, prohibiting them from doing any more work in New Jersey.

As part of the order, Berman required the company to supply the state with a list of all its customers in New Jersey, and ordered it not to destroy any company records.

State officials say All Care called residents and went door-to-door soliciting business, offering chimney cleaning for $39 to $60, then convinced consumers that much more work was needed.

In one case, workers told an 84-year-old woman in a condominium they needed to perform maintenance on her dry vent, and then performed $1,300 in repairs, according to the complaint filed in court.

In another instance, state officials allege, workers convinced a 63-year-old developmentally disabled man that he needed a new chimney liner at a cost of $4,300.

Workers in another incident filled out a check for a consumer who was developmentally disabled with seizure disorders, and then required him to sign the check, according to the complaint.

Work was done without permits or inspections, and resulted in exhaust and carbon monoxide leaking into homes, O'Donnell said in court today.

Michael Lyon, president and owner of the company, was in court today but declined to comment after the hearing.

Robert Lee, a Florida attorney representing All Care, said the company was served with the complaint on Thursday and needed time to prepare a response.

Berman set Nov. 10 for a full hearing.

Lee declined to comment following the court hearing.

More New Brunswick news

Philander Hampton could be released from jail in a matter of months because of his parole eligibility, and jail time already served

Jerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerPhilander Hampton, 54 (center) was sentenced in Superior Court today in Newark for his role in the 1978 killings of five boys in Newark. He is seen with his attorneys, Joseph Krakora (left) and John McMahon.

NEWARK — Philander Hampton, who in August pleaded guilty to his role in the decades-old killing of five Newark boys, was sentenced this morning to 10 years in prison as part of his negotiated deal with prosecutors. According to sentencing guidelines from the time the boys were killed, Hampton could be released from jail in a matter of months because of his parole eligibility, and jail time already served.

Hampton, 54, in a tan prison jumper and looking frail and thin, stood quietly as Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello in Newark imposed the recommended sentence, which followed emotional words from victims' relatives who described the void left from the loss of their loved ones.

Hampton had pleaded guilty to five counts of felony murder on Aug. 30, following months of negotiations between his lawyers and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. Hampton, flanked by his two attorneys -- including Joseph Krakora, now the state's public defender — did not speak at this morning's appearance, and has rarely ever said a word in court.

Terry Lawson, whose brother, Michael McDowell, was among the victims, could barely contain her rage when it was her chance to address the court.

"I hope from now until your death that you wake each day and go to sleep each night tortured by the vision of the five young boys whose lives you ended," Lawson said reading from a prepared speech. "May your soul never experience a day's rest or peace, and when you die, I pray you go straight to hell where you belong."

Booker Murray, whose brother, Melvin Pittman, was another victim, also addressed the court. Murray said the punishment was too lenient. "You're talkin' about the murder of five boys," he said.

As part of his negotiated plea deal, Hampton will testify against his co-defendant and cousin, Lee Anthony Evans, who prosecutors say was the mastermind of the killing. Evans, 58, is still charged with five counts of murder for the Aug. 20, 1978 killing of the teens, who were lured into an abandoned house, locked in a closet, then burned alive. The house on Camden Street was soon demolished.

The bodies of Michael McDowell, Randy Johnson and Alvin Turner, both 16, and Melvin Pittman and Ernest Taylor, both 17, were never found, and their disappearance was officially classified as a missing persons case until Hampton and Evans were charged with murder in March 2010. The arrest of the two men came more than a year after Hampton gave an hour-long taped confession to police, saying Evans enlisted him in the killing, which was allegedly payback for the boys having stolen a pound of marijuana from Evans.

Assistant Prosecutor Peter Guarino said today in court that Hampton, who was 22 at the time of the killing, was influenced "by a much older and much more dominant individual" in Evans.

Evans, who remains free on bail, has long maintained his innocence and is now serving as his own lawyer. He was not in court for the sentencing, but his former court appointed attorney, who now serves as an adviser, was there.

Evans' trial is set to begin with jury selection on Oct. 21. The prosecutor's office wanted to delay Hampton's sentencing till after Evans' trial — sentencing was originally planned for Sept. 23 — but the defense objected. Hampton, who has been in jail since the March 2010 arrest, remains bound by the terms of the plea deal, his defense attorneys have said. He will begin serving state prison immediately, and could be released at the end of this year or the beginning of 2012. Sentencing guidelines from 1978 allowed for parole after serving 20 percent of a sentence, as compared to today, which requires 85 percent.

Despite Hampton's detailed confession about the killing, no physical evidence links either man to the 33-year-old crime. Prosecutors have said that witnesses will testify to seeing Evans collect the boys in his green pickup truck earlier that night, after allegedly promising them some work moving boxes. Evans, a carpenter at the time, was known to enlist the help of boys for odd jobs around the neighborhood.

In asking the judge to impose the 10-year sentence, Assistant Prosecutor Guarino said Hampton "has nowhere to go but forward...Today begins the freest period of Mr. Hampton's life that he has had in 30 years. He has freed himself of Lee Evans."