U.S. Attorney Takes Down NJ/NY Drug Money Laundering

Phillip R. Sellinger is the 62nd United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He’s been on a major roll with achieving obtaining major guilty pleas.

With each guilty plea, you avoid the costs associated with a lengthy trial and you ensure a successful conviction.

Sellinger’s latest success in United States District Court involves the purchase of cashier’s checks to launder more than $27 million on behalf of both Central and South American drug cartels.

Sellinger received a guilty plea from Gilberto Martinez, 33, formerly of Clifton, New Jersey, who admitted to "cleaning” more than $1 million, according to Sellinger, who also confirmed that Martinez bought and had others buy cashier’s checks using drug cartel money.

Sellinger noted that the Morristown Police Department. worked with the DEA and the IRS to help make the case, whereby more than 1,000 cashier’s were purchased in this money laundering effort.

The Sellinger filing in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey outlines that each buyer was paid between $150 to $200 for each cashier’s check that they bought.

From there, Sellinger said that the cashier’s checks were sent to people who were directly “acting on behalf of drug trafficking organizations with ties to the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and elsewhere.”

Sellinger’s earlier achieved guilty pleas from two other New Jersey men, Erickson Checo-Almonte and Jordano Abreau-Diaz. They confessed to laundering about $ 4 million for the drug International cartels.

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Martinez will be sentenced by United States District Court Judge Brian on June 24, 2022 in United States District Court in Newark, New Jersey.

Sellinger directly credited the following for their material contributions for obtaining the guilty pleas:

Special agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division and Santo Domingo Country Office.
Special agents and task force officers of IRS - Criminal Investigation.
New Jersey Attorney General's Office.
New Jersey State Police.
Morristown police department m.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan M. Peck - Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Unit in Newark, New Jersey.
Dominican Republic National Drug Directorate.

SOURCE: Phillip R. Sellinger, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey

NJ arrests 31 accused child predators in "Operation 24/7"

A roundup of 31 men have been accused of sexually exploiting children online, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced on July 14 while detailing "Operation 24/7."

The suspects “possessed and or distributed videos and images of child sexual abuse, including in many cases videos of young children being raped by adults,” Grewal said.

Chat apps and gaming platforms remain favorite hunting grounds for child predators and even as the pandemic winds down, many children have continued to spend more time online.

State Police received 39% more tips in just the first 6 months of 2021 than they received in the entire year in 2019. The following are suspects charged in "Operation 24/7."