Tag: Essex County
Victor Madera, Food Stamp Fraud, New Jersey 2026
⏱ 2 min read Victor Madera, a 67-year-old businessman from New Brunswick, New Jersey, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for running a massive food stamp fraud scheme out of his East Orange grocery store. Between May 2017 and November 2024, Madera’s employees exchanged SNAP benefits for cash, cheating the system out of…
Nariq Petes, Hobbs Act robbery, New Jersey 2023
⏱ 3 min read A brazen pharmacy heist in Livingston, New Jersey, went sideways for Nariq Petes, 27, from Newark. On December 30, 2023, Petes and an accomplice, Xavier Reyes, walked into a pharmacy wearing black masks and packing heat. They brandished handguns, demanding prescription meds and making off with at least six bottles. Three…
