Author Archives: Tonacchio Law, LLC
Aide at Private School in Wall Township arrested for sexual assault
Another day, another school sex case. This time it wasn’t a teacher, but a teacher’s aide at the Rugby school in Wall Township, New Jersey. Little is known at the moment except that a school bus driver overheard some children talking about a possible relationship between Brandi E. Shroyer and another student. Shroyer was arrested at her home in Spring Lake Heights and posted a $100,000 bond to get out of jail. Clearly she has some money and will likely get a good attorney to fight this case.
Story is here.
Sweep of alleged gang members leads to several arrests
As gang membership increases in New Jersey, arrests of gang members and leaders will also increase. These cases are difficult from a defense perspective because the stigma of belonging to a gang, on some occasions totally false, will have an impact on plea negotiations and sentencing.
Over the past week in Middlesex County, the following men were arrested and identified as alleged members of the Latin Kings street gang: John Jiminez and Sfand Rajazadeh of Carteret. Both were charged with distribution of controlled dangerous substances. The following men were arrested and identified as a member of the Bloods gang: Ahmed Dempsey Simpson of New Brunswick (charges of drug distribution, distribution of drugs on public property, possession of drugs and possession of a handgun); Tyrone Taylor of Woodbridge; David Roman of Perth Amboy; Johnny Elliot of Carteret; and Jamar Carpenter of Perth Amboy, (all for distribution of drugs); and Marcus Vasquez of Perth Amboy for possession of a weapon.
Lakay Lewis of New Brunswick was identified as an alleged member of a gang known as the 5 Percenters. He was charged with three counts of drug distribution including on public property and possession of a handgun.
Danny Soto of Carteret was identified as an alleged member of Netas. He was charged with distribution and possession of drugs.
Story is here.
Should you get an expensive, “big name” attorney?
I really don’t understand some of these “big name” attorneys. You see a lot of them on TV. They don’t really accomplish much but they pay a lot of money to a PR firm to convince everyone that they are these amazing attorneys. As a result, they also charge a ton of money.
Don’t me wrong, I have no problem with an attorney charging what the market will bear. However, I do have a problem with people paying money for just a slick name with no substance. In my opinion, that is just a rip-off.
I had a couple come into my office today to discuss their three sons who are in jail for the same offense. They hired a big name attorney to one son and the other two had public defenders. They were charged with assault but the parents claim that they were all innocent. Apparently, the attorney had a lot of problems with the judge and prosecutor even though both men are great people who have never given me any problems.
This attorney charged them 6 to 8 times what I would have charged them and I am not even close to a cheap attorney. They were actually rather happy with the attorney and mostly blamed the system for the situation. However, when I asked about what was done on the case, it didn’t seem like much was done for all of this money. There were no motions filed when it seemed like at least 5 should have been filed.
There was also no sentencing brief filed which is just crazy. When they left my office, they said what many clients in their position say, “I wish I would have hired you”. Of course, now they have no money for me to put some of the toothpaste back in the tube.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when you hire an attorney, make sure that he or she has some type of plan. In addition, hire the attorney based your trust with him or her and confidence in their track record and experience. Don’t be fooled by TV appearances and other slick marketing tricks. Some of the best attorneys I know are not flashing their face all over TV and magazines every day.
Eddie Canary, Hoboken basketball star charged with robbery
Eddie Canary, a junior at Hoboken High School and First Team All-County forward for the Hoboken Red Wings was charged with robbery and two counts of inflicting bodily injury and more charges may be on the way as there were two different alleged robberies.
With the first one, the victim was approached by a group of men. One man allegedly took $15 out of the victim’s hand. Afterwards, someone reported that Canary then assaulted the victim leaving him knocked out with a broken collar bone. The victim later learned that this wallet was stolen.
With the second case, the police were looking for Canary a short while affter the first robbery. When they caught up to him, they allegedly found him and assaulting another man. He tried to run off but was caught. While it doesn’t seem like anything was stolen, the State may charge him with attempted robbery based upon the first case.
Unless an attorney can pull of some amazing work, it looks like his basketball career is over. I’ve had worse and kept my clients out of prison. Robbery cases are weird like that, at least for me. They are very serious but great deals can be worked out.
Story is here.
Anthony Iazzetta, Edison high school teacher charged with sexual assault
Anthony Iazzetta, a mathematics teacher at Edison High School was arrested charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old female student. Lucky for him, he is 26 and not an older guy. Thus, a jury would be hard pressed to get too upset over a 17 year old having a relationship with a 26 year old. Of course, the case is still serious.
He is charged with with one count each of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. There is no indication of what evidence they have, but from my own experience, I expect that he made a statement admitting to the relationship. He is facing prison time, Megan’s law and parole supervision for life. I don’t think I would have too much of an issue getting prison time off the table. Keeping him off Megan’s law and PSL requires much more work. Hopefully he gets a good attorney, but I think he would get a union attorney like most teachers do.
Story is here.
East Orange grocery store owners charged with holding rooster fights
Pedro H. Torres, 48; Flerida Torres, 49, and their 19-year-old son, Pedro Jr., owners and operators of the Martinez 1-Stop Grocery store in East Orange are each charged with 15 counts of illegal animal fighting and possessing fighting roosters that were found in the store basement on Sunday morning. Police stumbled upon the birds after responding to a break in.
It looks like all three people will need their own attorney as Pedro Sr has told the press that the roosters belong to his son. Pedro Sr has a prior from several years ago for the same type of charge.
This is actually a rare crime that almost no one is ever charged with. Although jail time is possible, most probably just pay a small fine. As powerful as some animal rights groups are, it seems like they have been unable to convince law makers to make these charges more serious.
Story is here.
Impersonating a public servant or law enforcement officer, (2C:28-8)
New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney
A criminal conviction can ruin your reputation and your life. Calling a tough, smart attorney as early as possible may make the difference between a great result and disaster. Regardless of the how simple or complex the case, or where the court is, our team of aggressive New Jersey criminal defense lawyers will fight for you.
With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call our attorneys today to begin your aggressive defense.
2C:28-8. Impersonating a public servant or law enforcement officer.
a. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, a person commits a disorderly persons offense if he falsely pretends to hold a position in the public service with purpose to induce another to submit to such pretended official authority or otherwise to act in reliance upon that pretense.
b. A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if he falsely pretends to hold a position as an officer or member or employee or agent of any organization or association of law enforcement officers with purpose to induce another to submit to such pretended official authority or otherwise to act in reliance upon that pretense.
From Newark to Trenton, Jersey City to Atlantic City, our criminal defense attorneys will fight you in any court in New Jersey. With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our team of tough, smart criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call us today to begin the fight against your charges!
Tampering with public records or information, (2C:28-7)
New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney
A criminal conviction can ruin your reputation and your life. Calling a tough, smart attorney as early as possible may make the difference between a great result and disaster. Regardless of the how simple or complex the case, or where the court is, our team of aggressive New Jersey criminal defense lawyers will fight for you.
With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call our attorneys today to begin your aggressive defense.
2C:28-7. Tampering with public records or information. a. Offense defined. A person commits an offense if he:
(1) Knowingly makes a false entry in, or false alteration of, any record, document or thing belonging to, or received or kept by, the government for information or record, or required by law to be kept by others for information of the government;
(2) Makes, presents, offers for filing, or uses any record, document or thing knowing it to be false, and with purpose that it be taken as a genuine part of information or records referred to in paragraph (1); or
(3) Purposely and unlawfully destroys, conceals, removes, mutilates, or otherwise impairs the verity or availability of any such record, document or thing.
b. Grading. An offense under subsection a. is a disorderly persons offense unless the actor’s purpose is to defraud or injure anyone, in which case the offense is a crime of the third degree.
c. A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if he purposely and unlawfully alters, destroys, conceals, removes or disables any camera or other monitoring device including any videotape, film or other medium used to record sound or images that is installed in a patrol vehicle.
From Newark to Trenton, Jersey City to Atlantic City, our criminal defense attorneys will fight you in any court in New Jersey. With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our team of tough, smart criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call us today to begin the fight against your charges!
Tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, (2C:28-6)
New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney
A criminal conviction can ruin your reputation and your life. Calling a tough, smart attorney as early as possible may make the difference between a great result and disaster. Regardless of the how simple or complex the case, or where the court is, our team of aggressive New Jersey criminal defense lawyers will fight for you.
With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call our attorneys today to begin your aggressive defense.
2C:28-6. Tampering with or fabricating physical evidence
A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if, believing that an official proceeding or investigation is pending or about to be instituted, he:
(1) Alters, destroys, conceals or removes any article, object, record, document or other thing of physical substance with purpose to impair its verity or availability in such proceeding or investigation; or
(2) Makes, devises, prepares, presents, offers or uses any article, object, record, document or other thing of physical substance knowing it to be false and with purpose to mislead a public servant who is engaged in such proceeding or investigation.
From Newark to Trenton, Jersey City to Atlantic City, our criminal defense attorneys will fight you in any court in New Jersey. With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our team of tough, smart criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call us today to begin the fight against your charges!
Tampering With Witnesses and Informants, (2C:28-5)
New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney
A criminal conviction can ruin your reputation and your life. Calling a tough, smart attorney as early as possible may make the difference between a great result and disaster. Regardless of the how simple or complex the case, or where the court is, our team of aggressive New Jersey criminal defense lawyers will fight for you.
With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call our attorneys today to begin your aggressive defense.
2C:28-5. Tampering With Witnesses and Informants
a. Tampering. A person commits an offense if, believing that an official proceeding or investigation is pending or about to be instituted, he knowingly attempts to induce or otherwise cause a witness or informant to:
(1) Testify or inform falsely;
(2) Withhold any testimony, information, document or thing;
(3) Elude legal process summoning him to testify or supply evidence; or
(4) Absent himself from any proceeding or investigation to which he has been legally summoned.
The offense is a crime of the second degree if the actor employs force or threat of force. Otherwise it is a crime of the third degree. Privileged communications may not be used as evidence in any prosecution for violations of paragraph (2), (3) or (4).
b. Retaliation against witness or informant. A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if he harms another by an unlawful act with purpose to retaliate for or on account of the service of another as a witness or informant.
c. Witness or informant taking bribe. A person commits a crime of the third degree if he solicits, accepts or agrees to accept any benefit in consideration of his doing any of the things specified in subsection a. (1) through (4) of this section.
From Newark to Trenton, Jersey City to Atlantic City, our criminal defense attorneys will fight you in any court in New Jersey. With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our team of tough, smart criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call us today to begin the fight against your charges!
Tonacchio Law LC 