Parsippany Criminal Defense Law Blog

Purchasing a travel package is a risky thing due to the fraudulent tactics of some travel agencies and agents over recent years. A New Jersey couple has been charged with a crime for supposedly operating a number of scam travel agencies that offered people free airfares or cruises that were never delivered. They're charged with running the phony offerings from Jan. 2007 to July 2011.

The 41-year-old man and the 43-year-old woman are from Marlton. The New Jersey Attorney General called them a couple of old school 'con artists.' He charges them with operating several different travel club agencies. They would close one down when they felt the heat, and then open a new one elsewhere in the state, he charged.

Authorities continue to make inter-agency cooperative arrests of members of drug organizations throughout New Jersey. On this occasion, seven people were arrested on drug charge offenses in the City of Camden. The FBI, New Jersey State Police and the Camden Police Department collaborated to deliver what they called a 'significant blow' to a drug trafficking organization that is well-known for having control of the drug market in a distinct geographical section of Camden.

As is always the case in a multi-party drug charge arrest, the investigation and arrests were announced at a press conference controlled by the federal prosecutor, in which all of the agencies contributed to tout their efforts. This project focused on a specific gang that ran an open-air outdoor drug outlet where people could call ahead and then stop by on foot or car to pick up their order, according to police. Those arrested ranged in ages from 19 to 30.

Drug sweeps are usually coordinated efforts between state, federal and local officials to arrest a collection of people who may be operating under an organizational network or a loosely concentric ring of related activities. In New Jersey and the rest of the country, when authorities conduct a drug charge sweep against many individuals, they usually contact the press at the time of the sweep and inform them of their collective dragnet. This gives authorities an ideal platform for showcasing their achievement.

However, it remains to be seen whether a recent raid in Atlantic City that netted 25 arrests will stem the tide of serious drug and related crimes there. It took about 300 law enforcement officers from federal, state and local agencies to arrest the accused members of a violent Atlantic City street gang called the Dirty Block Crime Fam. Each defendant, including several arrested prior to the sweep, was charged with one count of the drug charge of conspiracy to distribute more than one kilo of heroin.

Public meetings these days, especially those dealing with taxes, can sometimes unleash the emotions of both citizens and officials. In this case, a female New Jersey resident was hit with a criminal charge after she attended a tax protest forum with tax officials at a Gloucester County public building. She is charged with making terroristic threats for allegedly saying that, if the door was unlocked, she would return with a gun. She denies making the statement.

The woman went to the meeting with her husband and 7-year-old daughter to dispute the doubling of her house value under a new appraisal. She said that the real estate market didn't justify the increase, and she started reading from the Constitution. According to the woman, when she started with the Constitution, a male appraiser from the county's private appraisal company got extremely upset and called on the Gloucester County tax assessor for assistance. The assessor told the woman to sit down and shut up.