Thursday hearing exposed ongoing and deepening rift between the judge presiding and an edgy team from the U.S. Attorney's Office

Star-Ledger file photoOnce-prominent attorney Paul Bergrin is shown in this file photo.

NEWARK — The routine, 12:30 p.m. status conference in the legal showdown between once-prominent defense lawyer Paul Bergrin and the U.S. Attorney’s Office bent on putting him away for life started innocently enough.

U.S. District Judge William Martini announced that "obviously," given the government’s multiple appeals, there was no way his court in Newark could start the next high-stakes trial of Bergrin on Jan. 18, as he’d hoped.

"In all likelihood it will be months" before the next trial begins, a subdued Martini noted, because the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals needs time to decide complicated issues.

But then, in the next breath, the courtly tone permeating the elegantly furnished courtroom started to shift, starkly. With a hunched-over Bergrin looking on in loose-fitting beige prison scrubs, Martini’s face tightened, and he asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Coyne to explain why, in a recent brief to the 3rd Circuit, he’d stated that Martini has made repeated "incursions" into decisions he believes prosecutors have the right to make.

"I find it a little bit disturbing that that kind of an allegation would be made," Martini began, peering down at the prosecutor from his deep red bench.

Moments later — in what would dissolve into nearly 30 minutes of chastising, retorts and surprising allegations between Martini and prosecutors who appear to think he is too pro-defendant — Coyne fired back.

"You’ve made it clear, repeatedly, off the record, that a mandatory life sentence for Mr. Bergrin is not appropriate," he blurted.

Thursday’s hearing accomplished little in the ongoing legal fight between prosecutors and Martini over which counts Bergrin, 56, will face next. In late December, Martini severed 14 counts from a vast 33-count racketeering indictment against Bergrin, who is representing himself. Now the government is asking the 3rd Circuit to rule it has the jurisdiction to consider an appeal of the severance order.

The severance order followed November’s hung jury for Bergrin’s trial in the killing of an FBI informant. It says Bergrin would have to next defend himself, chiefly, against drug conspiracy and murder-for-hire charges.

Still, the hearing did expose a crucial subtext to the debate over Bergrin’s fate: An ongoing and deepening rift between the judge presiding and an edgy team from the U.S. Attorney’s Office who, for better or worse, is not afraid to take Martini on.

"The whole implication in your brief is to suggest that there was this predisposed judge in the case and there wasn’t," an increasingly vehement Martini said Thursday. Later, he noted, "I’ve been on that bench for nine years … I’ve never been appealed to this extent with these type of allegations."

Bergrin, the son of a Brooklyn cop and a former prosecutor in the Newark U.S. Attorney’s Office in the 1980s, has been in jail for nearly three years. He faces counts including racketeering, witness tampering, murder-for-hire, fraud, cocaine trafficking and running a high-end prostitution ring.

In what led to perhaps the most heated exchange Thursday, Coyne said that in a recent behind-doors conversation between Martini and lawyers in the case, the judge had reportedly said he would have acquitted Bergrin in his fall trial.

"For you to bring that up now is also inappropriate," Martini soon shot back, before adding that his comments were made off-handledly, "after the case was over, after the fact, in a somewhat relaxed manner."

"I never expressed that kind of feeling while the jury was deliberating or beforehand," he also said, glaring.

Then, near the end of Thursday’s tense back-and-forth, Martini also had one more point to make to another government appellate lawyer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Sanders. The judge said he appreciated getting a Christmas card from him, but that "I’ve never gotten a card from an assistant U.S. attorney before," at least not "while a matter of importance" was pending before him.

"I thank you for it, but I think it’s inappropriate," the judge said.

Full Paul Bergrin trial coverage

A second Roselle man wanted in connection with the stabbing death of a Texas man at Franklin hotel on Dec. 31 has turned himself into authorities

Somerset County Pros. OfficeDyron White, 22, and Shaquan Johnson, 20, both of Roselle. Both are in custody after Johnson turned himself in Thursday afternoon in connection with the stabbing death of a Texas man at a Somerset County hotel on New Year's Eve.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP — A second Roselle man wanted in connection with the stabbing death of a Texas man at Franklin hotel on Dec. 31 has turned himself into authorities.

Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said Shaquan Johnson, 20, of Roselle turned says the Grape Street 103 Crips gang member surrendered to detectives on Thursday.

Last week, Soriano had fingered Johnson as the man responsible for the death of Chad Everette Robertson, 30, of Shoreacres, Texas.

Another suspect in the stabbing, Dyron White, 22, was arrested on Jan. 5 at a residence in Elizabeth. He was charged with aggravated assault and is still being held at the Somerset County jail.

According to authorities, Franklin Township police arrived at the Staybridge Suites on Davidson Avenue just before 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 31 to find two men suffering from stab wounds — Robertson and his work colleague, a 29-year-old Houston man.

Police said Robertson's co-worker — who hasn't been identified — was stabbed in his abdomen after an altercation with a group of 12 men.

Robertson came to his friend's aid in the "random attack" and received multiple stab wounds in a melee that happened outside one of the suites, Soriano said. It was not clear what sparked the attack.

The co-worker survived and has since been released from an area hospital. Robertson, however, died at the scene from his wounds.

He left behind five children — age 3 months to 12 years — having cemented an image among those close to him as a "hero" whose final act was saving the life of his colleague.

Robertson and the co-worker were in New Jersey to work for an environmental project for the Houston-based company, USA Environment L.P.

Pieter Demeyer, chief executive of the company, said Robertson was a "dedicated father and family man, as well as a dear friend and inspirational leader."

Related coverage:

• Roselle man charged with aggravated assault in Somerset stabbing, second suspect at large

• Police offer $10K reward for information into double stabbing at Somerset hotel

• 1 dead, another injured in stabbing at Franklin Township hotel

Dennis Veteri, 32, was charged with aggravated assault in the Philadelphia attack Watch video

Philadelphia P.D.Dennis Veteri

PHILADELPHIA — A Glassboro man has been arrested in the attack of Iraq veteran and Woodbridge police officer Neal Auricchio Jr. on Jan. 2 after a hockey game, Philadelphia Police said this morning.

Dennis Veteri, 32, was charged with aggravated assault in the attack, which occurred after the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Fylers faced off in the National Hockey League’s Winter Classic.

Philadelphia Police released a YouTube video of the attack earlier this month. The video shows three men in Flyers jerseys attacking two men in Rangers jerseys outside Geno’s Steaks.

Philadelphia Police Captain Laurence Nodiff said at a news conference this morning police are actively looking for the other suspects, but Veteri was the main assailant. Veteri was released after posting bail.

This is not Veteri's first brush with Philadelphia police. In 2010, he plead guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to three years probation, records show. He also plead guilty to drug charges in 2003 and 2010, records show.

Auricchio and a friend were waiting in line for cheesesteaks when the assault occured. Auricchio's friend took him to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment.

"It's a great day," said Neal Auricchio Sr., the police officer's father, who heard news of the arrest this morning on the radio while driving to work.

"I was just very happy that they found this jerk," Auricchio Sr. said.

He said he spoke to his son Thursday night, but he refused to talk about the investigation.

"He was just no comment, no comment, no comment. He knew what was going on, but he was just doing his job," the father said of his son, who has repeatedly declined reporters' requests to talk about the investigation or the attack.

Though Auricchio Jr. had hoped to return to work as a Woodbridge police officer, he remains off-duty to undergo surgery to repair a bone beneath his eye that was damaged in the attack. His father said he will be out of work until March.

Auricchio's wife, Maria, said the couple had retained a lawyer and was referring questions to him.

Asked about news of the arrest, Maria Auricchio said, "We were happy. I'll keep it simple."

Auricchio was awarded the Purple Heart in 2007 after surviving a sniper's attack in Iraq; he won Woodbridge's "Hero Award" in the same year and was praised by colleagues for his work as a police officer and volunteer firefighter in Middlesex County.

The assault occurred outside Geno's Steaks at 1219 S. 9th St.

Auricchio, the family friend, and his wife and son was given tickets to the Feb. 27 Rangers game against the Devils at Madison Square Garden. They’ll also get to meet the team in the locker room following the game.

Related coverage:

• Glassboro man is arrested in beating of N.J. police officer following Rangers-Flyers game

• N.J. cop beaten in Philadelphia hockey brawl identified

• Video: Woodbridge cop is allegedly beaten while wearing a Rangers jersey in Philadelphia

Police said Yodice crashed on a turn as he approached 80 mph after a robbery in Montville

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-LedgerMichael Yodice appears on closed circuit TV for a bail hearing in Superior Court in Morristown in this 2010 photo. He was sentenced to five years in state prison for reckless manslaughter today.

MORRIS COUNTY — A former Parsippany man was sentenced this morning in Morristown to five years in state prison for reckless manslaughter in connection with a motorcycle crash in 2010 while he and his passenger were trying to elude police after a robbery in Montville. The passenger was killed.

Michael Yodice, 23, pleaded guilty in November before Superior Court Judge Stuart Minkowitz to reckless manslaughter and eluding. He had been charged with aggravated manslaughter, a second degree crime, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and hindering apprehension stemming from the Sept. 9, 2010 crash that killed Christopher Vielee, 21, of Pine Brook.

Police said Yodice crashed on a turn as he approached 80 mph. Vielee was thrown from the motorcycle.

Related coverage:

• Former Parsippany man indicted in fatal motorcycle crash and robbery

A Randolph man serving a life sentence for the death and dismemberment of a teenaged neighbor in 2005 has had an additional five years in prison tacked on to his sentence for assaulting a guard in the Morris County jail while he awaited trial

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-LedgerJonathan Zarate, in a December 2008 file photo, during his trial for the murder of his teenage neighbor.

RANDOLPH — A Randolph man serving a life sentence for the death and dismemberment of a teenaged neighbor in 2005 has had an additional five years in prison tacked on to his sentence for assaulting a guard in the Morris County jail while he awaited trial.

Jonathan Zarate, now 24, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Morristown in July 2011 to assaulting the guard on Nov. 10, 2005.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Manahan ordered Zarate this afternoon to serve the five years consecutive to the life term he received for beating and stabbing 16-year-old Jennifer Parks to death in July 2005, and then cutting off her legs to fit her body into a trunk.

He was convicted of Parks' murder in 2009.

Zarate claimed self-defense in the assault, but admitted he used excessive force during the incident and injured corrections officer Peter Lenahan.

Related coverage:

• Convicted Randolph murderer admits assaulting Morris County jail officer

• Convicted Randolph murderer says he acted in self-defense in alleged assault of jail officer

• Convicted murderer Jonathan Zarate's assault trial stays in Morris County, judge rules

• Witness says Jonathan Zarate belittled brother into killing Randolph girl

• Full coverage of the Zarate murder trial from The Star-Ledger

Under Peru's penal system, Van der Sloot, a suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance, could become eligible for parole after serving half of the sentence

STR/AFP/Getty ImagesJoran van der Sloot is seen at his sentencing today in Peru in a television feed. He received 28 years in prison for murder of a young woman he met at a Lima casino

LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian court on today sentenced Joran van der Sloot to 28 years in prison for murder of a young woman he met at a Lima casino, even as the family of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway sought to have him prosecuted in the U.S. over her disappearance in 2005.

The decision comes two days after the young Dutchman pleaded guilty to killing Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old business student.

The court also ordered him to pay $75,000 in reparations to the victim's family, deeming the killing "cruel" and "ferocious."

Van der Sloot showed no emotion as the court clerk read the sentence, describing how he elbowed Flores in the face then beat and strangled her with his bloodied shirt. He told the court he reserves the right to appeal the conviction and sentence.

It is the first ever imposed on him, despite prosecutors' repeated efforts to prove he was involved in Holloway's apparent death on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba.

The judges said that due to time already served, van der Sloot's sentence would end in June 2038. But under Peru's penal system, Van der Sloot could become eligible for parole after serving half of the sentence with good behavior, including work and study.

The prosecution had sought a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder and theft.

Van der Sloot's lawyer argued he killed Flores on May 30, 2010, in a fit of rage he blamed on psychological trauma from being hounded as the prime suspect in Holloway case.

The victim's father, Ricardo Flores, complained after the sentencing that Van der Sloot was living well in a Lima prison, where he has been set apart from the general population.

"A jail isn't a five-star hotel," Ricardo Flores told reporters. "Let's hope the authorities take that into account and not just in our case."

"Since the first day we've been complaining about the excessive privileges" that Van der Sloot allegedly enjoyed in jail. He said he would present evidence of that at a news conference on Monday.

Unconfirmed news reports, denied by penal authorities, say Van der Sloot has also had a television and video gaming console. As in many developing nations, foreigners with money can buy superior treatment in Peru's prisons.

The Holloway case remains open and a U.S. judge on Thursday declared her dead.

Her parents want Van der Sloot to eventually be extradited to the U.S. and tried on related charges. He has been indicted on extortion charges there for allegedly accepting $25,000 in return for a promise to lead a lawyer for Holloway's mother to her daughter's remains.

Van der Sloot didn't deliver on the offer, and may have used some of that money to fly to Peru two weeks before the Flores murder.

After killing the Lima woman, he took nearly $300 in cash from Flores as well as credit cards, and was captured four days later in Chile.

Van der Sloot told police he flew into a rage when she discovered his connection to Holloway via an instant message sent to him while they were playing online poker in his hotel room.

Police forensic experts disputed that story, and the three female judges who sentenced him noted that Van der Sloot later recanted the confession, claiming it was exacted under duress and without an official translator.

The victim's family contends Van der Sloot killed Flores in order to rob her.

The imposing young man raised on a tourist island has been a staple of tabloids and true crime TV, as well as the subject of several books about Natalee Holloway.

"We've been dealing with her death for the last six and a half years," her father, Dave Holloway, said after Thursday's hearing in Birmingham, Alabama.

He said the judge's order there on his daughter's death closes one chapter in the ordeal, but added: "We've still got a long way to go to get justice."

Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old from the wealthy Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook, disappeared on May 30, 2005, during a high school graduation trip to Aruba, where Van der Sloot grew up.

Her body was never found and repeated searches turned up nothing even as intense media coverage brought the case worldwide attention.

Van der Sloot said he was involved in her disappearance in a videotape clandestinely made by a Dutch journalist. He later denied it, however, and has told several interviewers that he is a pathological liar.

A homicide investigation into Holloway's death remains open in Aruba though there has been no recent activity, said Solicitor General Taco Stein, an official with the prosecutor's office in Aruba.

There is no indication U.S. officials have moved to seek to extradite Van der Sloot; Peru's Foreign Ministry said this week that it has no U.S. extradition request for him.

No members of Van der Sloot's family attended the trial in Peru. His lawyer said the defendant's mother, Anita, did not want the media attention.

The defendant's father, a prominent lawyer, died of a heart attack at age 57 in February 2010.

In July 2009, Joseph Cardwell, a businessman and Democratic political operative in Jersey City, was rounded up during the FBI’s Operation Bid Rig III political corruption and money laundering sting

Mitsu Yasukawa/The Star-LedgerJoseph Cardwell, a former political consultant and a commissioner of Jersey City comes out of the Federal Court House in Newark in July, 2009. Cardwell plead guilty to bribery and was sentenced to six months in prison and six months of home confinement.

NEWARK — A federal judge today sentenced Joseph Cardwell, a businessman and Democratic political operative in Jersey City, to six months in prison and six months of home confinement for taking a $10,000 bribe-payment from FBI informant Solomon Dwek to pay for a city official’s influence on a construction project.

In July 2009, Cardwell was rounded up during the FBI’s massive Operation Bid Rig III political corruption and money laundering sting. The bust, which has been called the biggest corruption sting in state history, led to the arrests of 46 people, including three mayors, two legislators and more than 20 candidates for public office who were charged with taking cash bribes to help push forward development projects.

Cardwell, now 70, had pleaded guilty last March to aiding and abetting the offer and giving of, and agreeing to give, a bribe to a public official. He faced up to 10 years in prison, although under advisory federal sentencing guidelines his sentence was to be between 12 and 18 months.

After noting that Cardwell had no prior criminal history and was once considered a civic leader in his community, U.S. District Judge Jose Linares gave Cardwell a sentence that was slightly less than suggested by the guidelines.

Still, Linares noted that, based on transcripts he’d read of secret tapes Dwek made of 2008 conversations with Cardwell, it was clear Cardwell had been an active participant” in a “very serious” crime.

“Political corruption in this state is an area of great concern to law enforcement, because the confidence of people in their elected officials, those who wield influence, is very important” Linares added, while explaining that Cardwell’s sentence needed to be serve as a deterrent to future crimes.

Earlier in the hearing in Newark, a contrite and emotional Cardwell, who wore a blue pinstripe suit, stood before the judge with his head slightly bowed.

“I’ve brought shame to my family members,” he said. “These have probably been the worst 2 ½ yrs of my life,” he said, speaking of the time since his arrest.

Minutes before, his defense attorney, Henry Klingeman, had asked the judge to mete out a sentence that did not include prison time.

Cardwell has been a leader of the Hudson County Reform Democratic Organization. He also sat on Jersey City's municipal utilities authority. Klingeman said after the hearing that Cardwell resigned from his utilities-authority position after pleading guilty.

Related coverage:

• FBI informant Solomon Dwek headed back to prison after his bail is revoked

• I never touched the $10,000, says former Secaucus mayor on witness stand

• FBI witness Solomon Dwek details his role in corruption case of Jersey City deputy mayor

East Orange police said Davione Warren was arrested near Telford Street and Tremont Avenue after police received an anonymous tip that he was dealing narcotics out of his car

John O'Boyle/The Star-LedgerEast Orange police said they arrested Davione Warren, 23, of East Orange, on drugs and weapons charges Thursday after they found 1,900 envelopes of heroin and three loaded handguns in his car.

EAST ORANGE — A 23-year-old city resident was arrested on drugs and weapons charges Thursday after police said they found 1,900 envelopes of heroin and three loaded handguns in his car.

East Orange police said Davione Warren was arrested near Telford Street and Tremont Avenue after police received an anonymous tip that he was dealing narcotics out of his car. After setting up surveillance, officers from the city’s Violent Crimes Task Force approached Warren’s vehicle and allegedly saw him attempting to hide a bag that appeared to contain small envelopes, according to police.

When officers searched the car, they found 1,900 envelopes of heroin, valued at $19,000, 3 handguns, one of which was allegedly stolen from Michigan, and a small amount of marijuana, authorities said.

Warren was charged with drug possession with intent to distribute and 3 counts of weapons possession and was being held on $350,000 bail at Essex County jail today.

More East Orange news

Delbarton spokesman Anthony Cicatiello said Thursday Virginia church officials were notified of the investigation and restrictions through a phone call

Star-Ledger file photoThe Rev. Luke Travers was replaced Wednesday after a letter was sent to church officials outlining sexual misconduct claims by two male former students at New Jersey's Delbarton School.

RICHMOND, Va. — While officials at the Delbarton School were assuring two alleged victims the Rev. Luke Travers, the former headmaster, was under severe restrictions and tight supervision at a Virginia abbey, church leaders in Richmond insisted Thursday they were never told about his alleged sexual misconduct.

"We didn’t know he was under investigation or had restrictions," said Steve Neill, a spokesman for the Richmond Diocese. "We never heard from the group in New Jersey — not an inkling."

But Delbarton spokesman Anthony Cicatiello said Thursday Virginia church officials were indeed notified of the investigation and restrictions "in a phone call between the abbots of each abbey."

Travers was removed from his administrative post at Mary Mother of the Church Abbey in Richmond when allegations, presented to Delbarton in June, were made public this week.

Under the prohibitions put in place by St. Mary’s Abbey of Morris Township last summer and outlined by the Rev. Giles P. Hayes, the abbot who oversees Delbarton, Travers should have been banned from contact with students and adults 25 years old and younger.

He was also prohibited from teaching, was restricted to administrative duties and could say Mass only for fellow monks. In addition, a car assigned to him was to be confiscated and his driving privileges suspended.

But in the seven months that have followed the first accusations, Travers presided over masses attended by all ages, the Rev. Adrian Harmening, an administrator at Mary Mother of the Church Abbey, said Thursday.

Travers also presided over a monk’s funeral and addressed students at a Benedictine military school, said Jesse Grapes, the school’s headmaster. In addition, Travers appeared to have a car at his disposal, said Paul Kitchen, chairman of the board at the military school.

In an e-mail dated Jan. 10 and obtained by The Star-Ledger from someone with knowledge of the investigation, Delbarton investigator Ann Ordway assured someone close to one of the alleged victims that "officials in Virginia are aware of the investigation and the allegations and an adult supervisor is assigned to accompany and supervise Fr. Luke when he is in that state. In NJ, there are adult supervisors who monitor Fr. Luke, and Fr. Luke must account for his whereabouts."

But Neill said there is no evidence Travers was being supervised in Virginia, "because no one knew anything."

Attempts to reach Ordway were unsuccessful last night.

Robert Sciarrino/The Star-LedgerThe Delbarton School, a private school located in Morris Township.

Harmening did not return three phone messages Thursday, but told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the Richmond abbey was not informed of the investigation or strict rules that were supposed to govern Travers’ life as a monk in Virginia. As a result, Travers — 350 miles from Delbarton — knowingly violated restrictions placed on him, while Delbarton officials insisted the rules were being enforced and monitored.

Kitchen was upset the 100-year-old school was blindsided by the allegations. He said Thursday he had demanded proof of notification from Delbarton officials, but there has been no reply.

"There’s plenty of anger here," Kitchen said. "People in New Jersey say they told us, but, regrettably, their story doesn’t add up."

Along with its apparent fumble and mistatements, Delbarton appears to have broken another promise to an alleged victim.

In an e-mail dated June 17, 2011, and provided to Bishop Francis DiLorenzo of the Richmond Diocese, Simon Gallagher, an assistant to Delbarton’s review board, assures the man "(Travers’) safety plan will be reviewed by me and others 6 times a month."

Gallagher concludes the email by telling the accuser "thank you for making us aware of his outrageous conduct toward you."

Asked in an email whether anyone at Delbarton had checked on Travers in Virginia, and how often, Cicatiello responded to other questions but not that one.

Two men have come forward to make allegations against Travers, 55, who was headmaster at Delbarton from 1999 to 2007 and taught at the school before and after that.

The first alleged victim, who sparked the investigation, said he was 18 and a Delbarton student when Travers consoled him while his father was dying. He said Travers offered him alcohol, and hugged and kissed him on the neck and ears at the elite all-boys school in Morris Township in 1990.

When he protested the affection, he said Travers told him there was "nothing wrong with what he was doing because he loved me."

When the accuser returned for a visit as a college freshman, Travers asked him to run away with him, the man said.

Travers "crossed boundaries which betrayed the inherent trust which is sacred to his position as a teacher and a priest," the accuser said.

In a letter to the Delbarton community Thursday, Hayes called the allegation "a minor boundary violation with an adult." Hayes said "the conduct is not criminal" and has been reported to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.

Capt. Jeff Paul, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said "it would be inappropriate for us to comment on whether or not we have an active investigation."

Travers has not been charged with a crime.

A second man says his crotch and butt were grabbed by Travers, who also quizzed him about his sex life. Those incidents allegedly occurred in the early 1980s, while the student was about 14.

An East Orange man admitted in federal court yesterday to both resisting and assaulting deputy U.S. marshals during a court proceeding in June 2010, federal authorities said

John O'Boyle/The Star-LedgerU.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton, pictured in this file photo from April 2004.

EAST ORANGE — An East Orange man admitted in federal court yesterday to both resisting and assaulting deputy U.S. marshals during a court proceeding in June 2010, federal authorities said.

Wydove Brown, 41, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark to one count of forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing and interfering with three deputy marshals while they were engaged in the performance of their official duties, authorities said.

According to authorities, who cited court documents and court statements, during a June 9, 2010, proceeding in Newark, a judge ordered marshals to remove Brown from the courtroom.

Brown admitted yesterday, authorities said, to kicking, shoving and moving his body in resistance to the marshals once he was escorted from the courtroom. He also admitted that he fell to the ground, and that in the process, a marshal suffered a broken hand, they said.

Brown will face a maximum of 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 17, said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. He is currently in federal custody on a prior conviction.

A call made Friday night to the office of Brown’s defense lawyer was not returned.

More East Orange news

Round-the-clock police patrols of houses of worship and some ethnic centers have begun in some parts of Bergen County after a series of anti-Semitic crimes were perpetrated in several towns, according to Northjersey.com. The patrols began Friday night, according to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli. They will be conducted by the Bergen County Police Department, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office...

Round-the-clock police patrols of houses of worship and some ethnic centers have begun in some parts of Bergen County after a series of anti-Semitic crimes were perpetrated in several towns, according to Northjersey.com.

The patrols began Friday night, according to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli. They will be conducted by the Bergen County Police Department, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office and municipal police departments, the prosecutor said.

The law enforcement response was prompted by a closed-door meeting of local religious leaders Thursday, after a Rutherford synagogue was firebombed Wednesday night.

Five anti-Semitic crimes have been reported in the county since Dec. 10, according to authorities. The latest was the discovery of swastikas and anarchy graffiti symbols in a Fair Lawn park, according to Molinelli. The Molotov cocktail tossed in the Rutherford Synagogue's window on Wednesday was the most recent of the crimes, authorities said.

Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino said two of his officers will patrol 70 synagogues throughout Bergen County, and additional personnel may be added as the investigation continues. Authorities also said the patrols would include mosques and churches, in addition to Jewish houses of worship.

LISBON, Portugal — The United States has asked Portugal’s Supreme Court to review its refusal to extradite American fugitive George Wright, a U.S. Department of Justice official said. Portuguese police captured Wright in September last year, 41 years after he escaped from a New Jersey prison where he was serving a sentence for the 1962 murder of a Wall Township...

LISBON, Portugal — The United States has asked Portugal’s Supreme Court to review its refusal to extradite American fugitive George Wright, a U.S. Department of Justice official said.

Portuguese police captured Wright in September last year, 41 years after he escaped from a New Jersey prison where he was serving a sentence for the 1962 murder of a Wall Township gas station owner. He had been living in Portugal since 1993.

A Lisbon court denied an initial U.S. extradition request in November and freed Wright, prompting the U.S. to appeal to the country’s Supreme Court. The higher court disallowed the appeal last month on procedural grounds.

Rafael Marchante/ReutersGeorge Wright, now 68, has been a fugitive after escaping from a New Jersey prison, but is living openly in Portugal. The European country has refused to extradite him, but the U.S. is now asking for reconsideration.

Department of Justice spokesperson Laura Sweeney said in an email to the AP late Friday the U.S. has asked the court to review what she said was a "preliminary ruling."

Wright’s lawyer Manuel Luis Ferreira said he was aware of the latest U.S. request. However, he said he had not had time to study it in detail and declined to comment.

Court officials were not available yesterday.

Wright, now called Jorge Luis dos Santos after changing his name, is married to a Portuguese woman and has two grown children.

The lower court judge had ruled that Wright, 68, had become a Portuguese citizen and that the statute of limitations on his 15- to 30-year sentence for the New Jersey murder had expired.

On Nov. 23, 1962, Wright and three Asbury Park men robbed the Sands Motel in Englishtown of $200 and made their way to the Collingwood Esso gas station in Wall Township. Walter McGhee fired two shots at the owner, Walter Patterson, then fled with $70. Patterson later died.

McGhee was sentenced to life in prison. Wright, as one of the holdup men, was also charged with murder. He changed his plea from not guilty to no defense to evade a jury trial that could have resulted in the death penalty. Wright, who was 19 at the time, was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison. But on Aug. 19, 1970, he broke out of what is now the Bayside State Prison in Leesburg.

On July 31, 1972, he and four other members of the Black Liberation Army hijacked a Delta Air Lines flight, taking it to Algeria.

Wright’s partners in the hijacking were caught in 1976 in Paris, but Wright remained free. A fingerprint on Wright’s Portuguese ID card was the break that led a U.S. fugitive task force to him.

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP — Officials say work at a memorial being built in honor of a fallen southern New Jersey police dog should be completed within the next few months. The memorial under construction at a Gloucester Township park is a tribute to Schultz, a 3 1/2-year-old German Shepherd who was thrown into traffic on Route 42 in November 2010...

Noah Addis/For the Star-LedgerGloucester Township Police Cpl. Mark Pickard holds the ashes of his canine partner Schultz, a German Shepherd killed in the line of duty, during the dog's funeral in Dec. 2010. The dog will be honored with a memorial soon.

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP — Officials say work at a memorial being built in honor of a fallen southern New Jersey police dog should be completed within the next few months.

The memorial under construction at a Gloucester Township park is a tribute to Schultz, a 3 1/2-year-old German Shepherd who was thrown into traffic on Route 42 in November 2010 while trying to help his police handler subdue a robbery suspect. The dog’s death spurred lawmakers to approve a measure that imposes stiffer sentenced on people who intentionally kill police dogs or dogs involved in search and rescue operations.

Deputy Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins tells The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill that landscaping work at the memorial site is “pretty much done.” But lighting and flagpoles still need to be installed.

Edwin Lamar Bingham, 46, was charged with strong-armed robbery, aggravated assault on a police officer and making terroristic threats for menacing the store employee

File photoEdwin Lamar Bingham

LINDEN — An attempted theft of a hand mixer from a dollar store led to the arrest of a Linden man on several felony charges, city police said.

Edwin Lamar Bingham, 46, was charged with strong-armed robbery, aggravated assault on a police officer and making terroristic threats for menacing the store employee during his arrest Friday afternoon at the Family Dollar store on East Saint George Avenue, police said.

The store employee called police about 3 p.m. after he allegedly saw Bingham conceal an item, later identified as a $24 Easy-Mix hand mixer, under his jacket and then try and walk out, police said.

When the male employee stopped Bingham and asked him to return the item, he was twice elbowed in the face but nonetheless managed to wrestle Bingham to the ground and hold him there until officers arrived, police said.

Bingham kicked a police sergeant as officers were placing him under arrest, police said. Neither the employee nor the sergeant required medical attention.

More Union County news

Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said this afternoon that a hunter found the remains in Hamilton Township earlier in the day, in the area of Ocean Heights Avenue

Google MapsOcean Heights Avenue in Hamilton Township, near where skeletal remains were found earlier today. Officials are trying to determine whether the remains are human.

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP — Authorities are working to determine whether skeletal remains found in a wooded area of southern New Jersey are human.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said this afternoon that a hunter — whose name was not disclosed — found the remains in Hamilton Township earlier in the day, in the area of Ocean Heights Avenue.

Specific details about the remains were not disclosed. Housel would only say that they were collected by the county medical examiner's office and will be sent to forensic anthropologists for further examination and testing.

Housel said the county's major crimes unit is leading the investigation, but declined further comment on the matter.

More Atlantic County news

A Jersey City man who led police on a pursuit that ended in a crash that injured two children has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, while a Jersey City woman who ordered the murder of a California woman has been sentenced to six years in prison

View full sizeExpress-Times Photo | BILL ADAMSAlexis Flowers is led Friday morning by Lehigh County sheriff's deputies back to Lehigh County Prison following her extradition hearing.

ALLENTOWN, Pa.

Suspect in fatal robbery
won''t fight extradition

One of the four people charged in last week’s murder and armed robbery at a Phillipsburg gas station will not fight extradition to New Jersey.

Alexis Flowers, 21, of Allentown, who was arrested Wednesday, appeared Friday before a Lehigh County judge.

Flowers waived her extradition hearing, meaning she will not resist efforts to be transferred to New Jersey to answer to the charges.

Also arrested in the case were Allentown residents Andrew Torres, 22 and Zachary Flowers, 18, who is Alexis Flowers’ brother; and David Beagell, 21, of Blakeslee, Pa.

All four are being held without bail pending extradition to Warren County, where bail is set at $1 million each.

The four are accused of participating in the robbery just after midnight Jan. 5 that led to the fatal shooting of Kismathdas Kasam, 47, of Phillipsburg. Kasam was a clerk at the BP gas station on Main Street, where authorities say Torres and Zachary Flowers demanded money at gunpoint.

Beagell and Alexis Flowers were not present for the robbery, but were involved with the planning, authorities say.

FREEHOLD

Man sentenced in crash
that injured 2 brothers

A Jersey City man who led police on a pursuit that ended in a crash that injured two children has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Troy Clarke, 33, and four other men had gone to a Freehold Township home in May 2010 to collect money for drugs from another man, Monmouth County prosecutors said. Clarke pointed a loaded gun at the victim during the confrontation, and the group soon fled when they learned police had been called, proescutors said.

They fled in a sport utility vehicle which soon collided with another vehicle. Two young brothers in the latter vehicle were seriously injured in the crash.

Clarke, who has a lengthy criminal record, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, obstruction and weapons offenses. He was sentenced in Superior Court in Freehold on Friday.

PHILADELPHIA

Woman gets 6 years
in murder-for-hire

A Jersey City woman who used stolen credit cards to order the murder of a California woman she considered a romantic rival has been sentenced to six years in prison.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Gene E. K. Pratter sentenced Marissa Mark, 29, to 72 months in prison and ordered her to pay $2,300 in fines and fees, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Mark pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire and related charges.

Prosecutors said in September 2006, Mark was living in Allentown, Pa., when she visited the "hitmanforhire" website seeking a hitman to kill "A.L.R." by shooting the woman in the head, according to the release.

Mark hired Essam Eid to kill Anne Lauryn Royston, a California mortgage broker who was dating Mark’s ex-boyfriend, according to court records. Mark contracted with Eid to do the job for $37,000 and paid the fee using three stolen credit card accounts and making payments using PayPal, according to the news release.

Star-Ledger staff and wire services

The program also will link pharmacies into one prescription database and state investigators will be able to track stolen or forged prescription pads

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerShannon Fogarty sits in the cafeteria of Integrity House in Newark. She abused cough syrup and and pain pills that led her to heroin.

TRENTON — All it took was a single pill.

A friend encouraged her to try it, then a doctor prescribed it, no questions asked. A single pill of the painkiller OxyContin and Brenna-Ann Haase was hooked, so much so that she stole cash, jewelry, DVDs, anything she could use to feed her addiction. Once an energetic fifth-grade teacher, Haase ended up a felon, locked up for more than two years in state prison for robbery.

"Prior to that there was no issue, there was no addiction," said Haase, 33, of Bloomfield. "How was I to know? I smoked pot, I partied in college, but I never in a million years thought by taking one pill I would open up the door to a downhill spiral of losing everything."

With addictions to narcotic painkillers at crisis levels and overdoses killing nearly 15,000 people in the United States every year, the state Attorney General’s Office this week will announce New Jersey’s toughest effort yet to combat the problem.

Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa on Wednesday will unveil a program to track every prescription filled in New Jersey for controlled dangerous substances such as OxyContin, Adderall and Valium, including information on patients, doctors and pharmacies.

The program will allow state investigators to target patients getting multiple prescriptions from different doctors or filling multiple prescriptions at different pharmacies. It will also identify doctors and pharmacists who approve or dispense unusually large amounts of drugs. If they are found to be prescribing the drugs improperly, they could face hefty fines, jail time and loss of their license to practice.

"Prescription drug abuse is a public health crisis, there’s no doubt about that," said Thomas Calcagni, director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the licensing and enforcement of doctors, dentists and other prescribers, as well as pharmacists. "If we’re ever going to make any headway in addressing the issue, everyone needs to own it."

Health care providers will have real-time access to the information generated by the new program so they can check a patient’s prescription history and detect possible addiction or abuse, as well as determine what drugs a person may be taking if they show up at a hospital emergency room for treatment.

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerSeamus Donohue sits in his room at Integrity House in Newark. He started getting hooked on pain pills when he was in high school in Wayne Hills playing football and basketball. It led to heroin. He feels if he wasn't able to doctor shop and get more pain pills he might have not tried harder drugs.

The program also will link pharmacies into one prescription database. State investigators will be able to track stolen or forged prescription pads, and pharmacists will be empowered to check on a customer’s history at other pharmacies before giving out drugs.

"Sometimes addiction is easy to spot and other times it’s not," said Edward McGinley, president of the state Board of Pharmacy, which licenses and oversees pharmacists. "This is a welcome tool."

Aside from controlled dangerous substances, the monitoring program will track prescriptions filled for human growth hormone, which has been a focus of the Attorney General’s Office since a Star-Ledger investigation in 2010 uncovered widespread use of that substance as well as anabolic steroids among New Jersey law enforcement officers and firefighters.

The program, funded by a $300,000 federal grant, went live this month and is expected to be in full swing by spring. It is the centerpiece of an ambitious initiative authorized by the Legislature in 2007 and advanced by Calcagni to target prescription painkiller addictions and overdoses, an epidemic that kills more people every year than cocaine and heroin combined.

The division plans to make prescription pads tougher to counterfeit, to increase security at pharmacies and to bolster the number of random inspections to ensure drugs are safe. Calcagni also plans to unilaterally revoke drug privileges from doctors, pharmacists and other licensed professionals suspected of breaking the law, to expand the number of drop boxes where residents can get rid of unused drugs, and to warn parents of the dangers of prescription medication.

"Not everyone knows how addictive these drugs can be," Calcagni said, "or how quickly they can damage or destroy people’s lives."

Patti Sapone/The Star-LedgerBrenna Haase, right, and her 6 1/2 week old daughter, Gianna DeFeo, visit Haase's mother Donna Haase. Brenna Haase was a middle-class middle school teacher who got hooked on prescription drugs, which eventually sent her life into a tailspin. She lost her teaching license and is now working at a treatment facility where she went through the program and got clean.

FULL-BLOWN EPIDEMIC

Teenagers and young adults in their mid-20s with access to drugs from friends or a home medicine cabinet are particularly vulnerable. Treatment centers in New Jersey reported 7,238 admissions for painkiller addictions in 2010, 12 times more than in 2000, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Most were white males age 21 to 25.

"These teenagers don’t have the judgment or the ability to self-regulate and to recognize when they are getting dangerously close to the cliff and they fall off," said former Gov. James E. McGreevey, who offers spiritual counseling at Integrity House in Newark.

"By virtue of the power of a doctor’s signature, there’s a seemingly tacit acceptance that the prescription is not only appropriate but recommended."

When addicts can no longer afford prescription drugs or their supplies run dry, law enforcement officials say they often turn to a cheaper and equally effective substitute: New Jersey’s ample supply of Colombian heroin.

"Prescription drugs drive drug crime in the suburbs," said Brian Crowell, the special agent in charge of the New Jersey Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "But what happens is when people can’t find the drugs in the suburbs, they come into the cities to buy the heroin."

Seamus Donohue was the youngest and smallest of three boys born to a family in Wayne. Slowed in school by learning disabilities, he was a freight train on the high school football field and basketball court. He played so hard he tore his knees to pieces. At 17 years old, a doctor gave him a narcotic painkiller and his entire life derailed.

Donohue said his addiction moved to acid, ecstasy, heroin and other drugs. Over the next two decades, he dropped out of college, lost a good job at Newark Airport and failed rehab 15 times. He lived out of his car in Paterson, ate out of Dumpsters, was in and out of jail and stole almost anything — even the medication from his father’s deathbed.

He said he lost custody of his son "because I was high at court."

"I felt like it progressed because once I got a taste, I liked it," said Donohue, 38, who’s now recovering at Integrity House.

"I look back now, I know it started the engine."

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerThomas Calcagni, director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, in this August file photo. Calcagni plans to unilaterally revoke drug privileges from doctors, pharmacists and other licensed professionals suspected of breaking the prescription drug law.

FLUSH WITH DRUGS

Retail pharmacies filled nearly three times as many prescriptions for opium-based and narcotic painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet in 2010 compared with 1991, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Those numbers are expected to continue to grow as people use pills for a quick fix.

Thirty-seven states have monitoring programs similar to New Jersey’s. Though they have shown some success, there is wide agreement that they are not a silver bullet.

In Virginia, the number of people seeking prescriptions from multiple doctors and pharmacies has been decreasing in recent years, a trend attributed to the state’s prescription monitoring, said Ralph Orr, the director of the program. But to reduce the number of overdoses, the monitoring must be accompanied by education and an effort to help people get rid of unused drugs, he said. New Jersey’s effort will include those components.

McGreevey said doctors also need to use more discretion to reduce excess drug supplies.

"Today, frankly, there are doctors that are altogether generous and lackadaisical and at times inappropriate and unethical in the prescription of certain medicines," he said.

For example, in April, a physician surrendered his license after being accused of selling prescriptions for $100 out of his car in a restaurant parking lot, state records show. Pharmacists also contribute to the problem, including one who gave up her license in July after she allegedly stole more than 14,000 hydrocodone tablets from her pharmacy.

Professionals caught by the monitoring program face anything from a license suspension or revocation to hefty fines or prison time, depending on their offense.

If doctors or pharmacists identify someone they believe to be addicted to or selling prescription drugs, they will be encouraged — but not required — to refer those people to treatment or law enforcement.

STRIKING A BALANCE

Growing up in Freehold, Shannon Fogarty was the popular girl, an all-star soccer player and proud of never drinking or taking drugs to make friends.

A year after high school, a car accident launched her halfway through her windshield. A doctor prescribed a depressant for her headaches, and she wasn’t sober again for more than a decade.

When a pharmacist suspected her addiction to the headache medication, Fogarty turned to Percocet.

When that ran out, Fogarty, a veterinary nurse, began forging prescriptions from work for a liquid form of Vicodin. She was arrested five months later, when prosecutors disclosed that they had more than 300 videos of her at pharmacies getting the drugs, allegedly for her pet dog.

"There’s so many ways to get these drugs," said Fogarty, 29, now at Integrity House after a subsequent heroin addiction.

"I was a good actress, and there’s so many doctors. You’re going to find one who will give you what you want."

Doctors and pharmacists face the difficulty of balancing the needs of patients in pain with the possibility that they may be addicts or seeking drugs to sell. They also face a murky ethical question about what they should do if they identify possible problems.

"It’s my responsibility not to contribute to a person’s behavior if they are doing illegal things or abusing prescription drugs," said Mary Campagnolo, president-elect of the Medical Society of New Jersey. "But I don’t think it’s a physician’s role to get involved with law enforcement."

Victor Almeida, an emergency room doctor at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, said the program will help doctors who see people so often for so many problems that it’s tough to determine if they are in pain or have an addiction. In most cases, patients are given the benefit of the doubt, he said.

"It’s hard because you don’t want to pass judgment without doing a thorough evaluation," Almeida said.

Pharmacists also fear accidentally refusing a legitimate request, said Sandra Moore, president of the New Jersey Pharmacists Association.

"It’s a good program for those who may be abusing because there’s something else being watched," Moore said. "But what about those who are not and feel like it’s an infringement on their privacy? That’s our biggest concern."

For Haase, the monitoring program might not have prevented her from becoming an addict, she said, but it could have stopped her abuse sooner. Free of drugs, she now works at Integrity House.

"My definition of an addict was a toothless person living in an abandoned building," she said. "That was always what I thought — until it became me."

The East Orange Police department has been performing "vertical patrols" through McIver Homes in East Orange since the building's management company cut private security

John O'Boyle/The Star-LedgerThe East Orange Police department has been performing "vertical patrols" through McIver Homes in East Orange since the building's management company cut private security for "financial reasons."

EAST ORANGE — For more than a month, East Orange police have conducted "vertical patrols" through the halls and stairways of Odessa Garrett’s apartment building — the McIver Homes on South Munn Avenue.

Garrett, a resident for 18 years, says without security at McIver, there’s no one to boot loiterers from the lobby or prevent outsiders from slipping in the door behind residents and into the nine-story, 87-unit building.

Joyce Blakey, president of the building’s tenant association, appreciates the extra police presence but says it’s a job that should be done by building security.

"I’d rather see the police survey outside our building more than the inside. It’s a waste of the taxpayers’ dollars and the police officers’ time," she said.

The vertical patrols began after the management company running the apartments scrapped on-site security staff on Dec. 1, despite the protest of tenants who say they fear for their safety in a high-crime area.

McIver Homes thus became the latest addition to the roughly 90 residential complexes in East Orange where, since 2005, police have conducted vertical patrols in both private and public housing complexes without their own security.

Edgewood Management, a private company based in Maryland, cited "financial reasons" for eliminating the security, according to its letter to tenants. Despite the cut in their services, tenants’ rents were not reduced.

After security was eliminated, Garrett said, she has gotten phone calls from strangers downstairs asking to be buzzed in. She said she never got those calls before.

"I said ‘I don’t know you’ and slammed my phone down," she said.

In late December, the tenant association sent its second letter to Edgewood calling for security to be restored and has gotten no response.

HOW IT WORKS

In vertical patrols, officers sweep through buildings twice daily, walking halls, stairways and lobbies to check for trespassers or signs of other criminal activity, said Sgt. Andrew Di Elmo, police spokesman.

Google MapsThe McGiver homes in East Orange where police are performing "vertical patrols" after management cut the private security staff.

Vertical patrols aren’t new in East Orange. The practice started in 2005 under former Police Director Jose Cordero, who implemented the method of patrolling more common in New York than in New Jersey.

In Essex County, other police departments from cities as large as Newark to smaller towns like Nutley have implemented vertical patrols in the past. But others, including Irvington and Orange, haven’t adopted the method.

"It’s not a typical thing that most police departments do," said Mayor Wayne Smith of Irvington. "Your first obligation is to respond to 911 calls."

"It’s more a manpower issue," he said.

In the past in East Orange there were up to 140 "affidavit buildings." Landlords or building management sign an affidavit with the police department that gives officers access — either with keys or access codes — to patrol indoor common areas. A sweep can take anywhere from five to 15 minutes for a routine check to longer if officers arrest trespassers or encounter other criminal activity, according to Lt. Harvey Rison.

The size of the affidavit buildings varied widely, from the 247 units at the Kuzuri Kijiji apartment complex to a four-family house, Rison said. In recent years, however, police stopped patrolling the complex, assistant manager Sandra Martin said. The building currently has its own security but management is still requesting police patrols.

From 2003 to 2010, the city saw overall crime plummet 74 percent, from 7,249 reported incidents to 1,860, according to East Orange Police Department statistics. Despite the precipitous drop, there was a slight uptick of 6 percent from 2009 to 2010 in overall crime.

SCORES OF ARRESTS

Implementing vertical patrols contributed to the reduction in crime by keeping nonresidents out of buildings, which also gives tenants more peace of mind, Di Elmo said. Officers made 60 arrests for trespassing in the affidavit buildings in 11 months, he said.

"Our whole purpose is to prevent and reduce crime," he added. "For us, it’s certainly not a burden."

East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser said there may have been a strain on the department last year with police layoffs, but all those officers have since been rehired using grant money.

But he agrees, in part, with some resident complaints that police patrols aren’t enough.

"It can’t fully replace it because it’s not a full-time effort," Bowser said. "There are certain responsibilities that have to fall on the private owner."

More Essex County news

Separate grand juries declined to indict in two of the cases, while charges in the third were dismissed before a grand jury heard evidence

Essex County Prosecutor's OfficeThe six Essex County corrections officers who were charged with abusing inmates. Charges against the six officers have been dismissed. Top, from left: Richard Amorosi, William Rupp, and Dennis Phelps Jr. Bottom, from left: John Conway III, Krzysztof Golas and Mark Horst.

NEWARK — Charges have been dismissed against six Essex County corrections officers accused of beating three inmates in a series of alleged attacks in 2010 that left two men hospitalized, one injured so badly he was urinating blood, officials said.

The officers had all been charged with assault and falsifying records, court records show. Separate grand juries declined to indict in two of the cases. Charges in the third were dismissed before a grand jury heard evidence.

"The purpose of the grand jury is to weigh the evidence and decide whether to indict. That is what happened in this case. The grand jury has spoken," said Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. "We accept the decision rendered."

When the officers were arrested in December 2010, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Jail Director Alfaro Ortiz condemned the actions. Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino said the alleged assaults were unprovoked.

All three declined to comment on the dismissals.

Four of the officers have returned to active duty; two remain suspended without pay, county officials said. Carter said all may still face internal disciplinary action.

Patrick Toscano, an attorney for one of the officers, said investigators may have failed to review video evidence in at least one attack and rushed to press charges.

"I’ve never seen an officer charged that quickly. They were charged immediately upon the word of an inmate," said Toscano, who represented Officer Krzysztof Golas. "The day you take an inmate’s statement ... without a thorough investigation before you charge a law enforcement officer … that’s very, very dangerous."

In August, a grand jury dismissed charges against five of the officers in an alleged attack on James Craft, who claimed the five beat him inside the Essex County Jail in May 2010. Golas was arrested with officers William Rupp, 31; Richard Amorosi, 25; Mark Horst, 29; and Sgt. Jeff Conway, 33, in the attack that left Craft hospitalized, prosecutors said.

But Toscano said video of the incident shows Craft screaming in his cell block, possibly in an attempt to incite other prisoners. Golas was the only officer to touch Craft, after he was ordered to subdue the prisoner, Toscano said.

"The Internal Affairs investigation and the investigation by the prosecutor’s office was sorely incomplete," said Toscano, a former Essex County assistant prosecutor.

In the second case, Conway and Officer Dennis Phelps, 35, were charged in a September 2010 attack on inmate Brian Guarino. Though details of that incident remain unclear, court records show the charges were dismissed in August before the case went to the grand jury.

Conway’s attorney, Anthony Pope, said a video of the incident made it clear the officers did nothing wrong.

"I don’t think the charges should have ever been brought in the first place," he said.

Rupp and Amorosi faced charges in a third attack, on inmate Kirtell Gadson, who claimed he was beaten inside of his cell by the two officers in April 2010, according to Rupp’s attorney, Timothy Smith. Smith said video evidence did not reflect Gadson’s accusations. A grand jury dismissed those charges last August.

"The video didn’t depict his allegations about what happened after he was taken to the cell … the allegations that he was unjustly roughed up," Smith said. "The officers denied it, essentially indicated that they just placed him back into the cell."

News of the six arrests came months after prosecutors charged Officer Joseph Mastriani with masterminding a prison smuggling ring that served inmates with everything from cell phones to heroin. Rupp was also charged in that case, which sparked questions about security and corruption at the jail, causing Toscano to wonder if the assault charges were just political posturing.

"That’s the only logical conclusion that anybody who represents law enforcement officers could draw from this," he said.

By James Queally and Alexi Friedman/The Star-Ledger

The incident has opened old wounds at the jail, where an inmate escape in 2007 lead to a demotion, a firing and major policy changes at the 1,100-inmate facility

AP Photo/Union County Prosecutor's OfficeThe rear of the Union County Jail is shown in this 2007 file photo. Two inmates at the jail escaped their cells and roamed freely throughout the detention center on Thanksgiving night .

ELIZABETH — Two Union County corrections officers are under investigation after a pair of inmates escaped from a jail cell Thanksgiving night and roamed freely through a detention area, officials familiar with the security breach said. One official said the inmates were able to chat with friends in other cells.

It is unclear how long the two were loose before officers intervened, according to the officials, who requested anonymity because the investigation is not complete.

The jail’s security cameras captured video of the incident, according to county officials. However, a public records request from The Star-Ledger for a copy of the video, as well as a report about the incident, was denied by county officials who said the records are "part of an ongoing criminal investigation."

"The matter is under administrative review by the county of Union," said Sebastian D’Elia, the county’s spokesman.

The incident has opened old wounds at the jail, where an inmate escape in 2007 lead to a demotion, a firing and major policy changes at the 1,100-inmate facility in Elizabeth. It also follows a Star-Ledger report last year that showed some corrections officers in Union County were working astronomical amounts of overtime — so much so that experts called it unsafe.

In this latest incident, the two officers are accused of falling asleep on the job, according to representatives from their union, PBA Local 199.

The union has retained legal counsel for the officers, Justin Garcia and Allen Cooke, said Ken Burkert, a Local 199 delegate. He referred further questions to the attorneys, both of whom declined to comment because no formal charges have been filed and no hearings are scheduled.

One corrections official who did not want to be identified said it’s unclear if the men were asleep when the inmates left their cells. They were, however, "not as attentive as they should have been," the person said.

Brian Riordan, who heads the county corrections department, would not comment on the incident, but said the process for any non-criminal policy violation is to investigate the matter internally. That could result in in-house disciplinary action. If a criminal violation occurred, county police and the prosecutor’s office would be called in, Riordan said.

Lt. Patricia Mauko, former president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 213, a union that used to represent a majority of the jail’s superior officers, said she’d heard about the accusations and doubted they were true.

"I would be very surprised if they were remiss in their duties by sleeping," she said.

The corrections department has faced criticism for high overtime costs and the December 2007 escape. In that incident, two inmates systematically chiseled through a cinder block wall and leaped over a razor-wire fence to freedom. One of the men made it to Mexico before he was captured at a $10-a-night hotel.

After the incident, corrections director Frank Crose, who had overseen the facility since 2001, was reassigned. His top deputy, assistant director James Dougherty, was fired. New security measures were also instituted for the first time since the jail opened in 1986.

Last year, Riordan said the escape "was absolutely perpetrated because of a complacent operation," adding that many officers were "burnt out from excessive amounts of overtime."

The county has made strides in reducing that overtime — from $7.6 million in 2006 to under $6 million in recent years. But it still struggles to make significant change. In its report last year, The Star-Ledger found some officers had more than doubled their salaries through extra hours. In one instance, a sergeant was allowed to work 112 hours in a single week.

Among the biggest earners of overtime in 2010 was Cooke, one of the two officers under investigation, who ranked 11th out of a staff around 300. By early December, he’d worked 882 hours of overtime in 2011 — more than all but three other officers. Garcia worked significantly less overtime last year than his colleague.

It’s unclear whether either officer was working additional shifts on the day in question.

By Ryan Hutchins and Julia Terruso/The Star-Ledger