2014 Annual Report John J

2014 Annual Report John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General of New Jersey This page was intentionally left blank OAG Annual Report Overview Dear Governor Christie, members of the State Legislature and citizens of New Jersey: Greetings. At the Office of the Attorney General, we have a unique role as both New Jersey’s lead law enforcement agency and its chief provider of legal representation to state government. That is, we are a large, multi-faceted crime-fighting agency and a major law firm rolled into one. Our essential mission includes making neighborhoods safer by combating drug dealing, gun violence, gang activity and other criminal threats. It includes prosecuting public corruption and financial crime. It includes preserving civil rights and protecting consumers and investors. But the mission does not end there. We license and regulate the alcoholic beverage industry. We ensure the integrity of New Jersey’s legalized casino gaming and horse racing industries. And we work to ensure the safety of drivers, passengers and pedestrians on our streets and roads. We are responsible for the custody, care and post-custodial supervision of juvenile offenders. We handle, literally, tens of thousands of litigation matters each year that protect children, safeguard the State’s financial assets, preserve our natural resources, ensure the integrity of elections and defend the actions of state government. We assist crime victims, provide emergency management services, work to protect our state from the threat of terror, and handle many other responsibilities as well. One of the nation’s most diverse and populous states, New Jersey is also a hub of national and international commerce, air travel and shipping. It is a center for manufacturing, education, health care, sports and entertainment. And it is a global vacation destination. Against this backdrop, it is not hyperbole to suggest the work of our office is indispensable, and touches the lives of millions of people daily. At the Office of the Attorney General –which oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety -- we have an incredibly dedicated work force made up of civilian personnel and sworn law enforcement members that is guided by the highest standards of integrity, performance and public service. Each day we work hard to improve the quality of life throughout our state, and each day we achieve results that make a difference. For a fuller view of our office and its work, I invite you to explore the pages that follow, and to visit the individual websites of our various Divisions and Commissions. At the Office of the Attorney General, we are proud of our accomplishments. However, we also recognize that the office’s mission is a continuum. The work is never really done, and there is always much more to learn. With that in mind, we are working each day to address traditional public safety issues, identify and effectively address emerging crime trends and, above all, keep our state safe. It is our privilege to serve the citizens of New Jersey. John J. Hoffman Acting Attorney General I New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety II Table of Contents Division of Criminal Justice .................................................................. 2 Division of State Police ....................................................................... 14 Division of Law ....................................................................................22 Division of Consumer Affairs .............................................................28 Division on Civil Rights .......................................................................34 Division of Highway Traffic Safety ......................................................40 Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control ..............................................44 Division of Gaming Enforcement .......................................................48 Juvenile Justice Commission .............................................................56 Racing Commission ............................................................................62 State Athletic Control Board ...............................................................68 1 New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety Division of Criminal Justice Division of Criminal Justice New Jersey’s unified, integrated system the Division seized 26 kilograms of cocaine of law enforcement is unique in the nation. – worth more than $750,000 – plus two The Criminal Justice Act of 1970 designated handguns and more than $500,000 cash. the Attorney General as the Chief Law To date, four defendants have pleaded guilty. Enforcement Officer of the State. Under One defendant was sentenced to 16 years in the Act, the powers of the Attorney General state prison. Three others were expected to be relating to the detection, interdiction and sentenced to state prison terms ranging from prosecution of criminal activities are exercised five-to-10- years. through the Division of Criminal Justice. Operation Family Affair: The Division In addition to its direct law enforcement indicted seven members of a violent, Trenton- operations, the Division provides oversight based drug ring for attempted murder, and coordination within New Jersey’s vast racketeering and heroin distribution offenses. law enforcement community. The Division’s Two of the defendants, Mark Fletcher mission is to protect the residents of New and Keith Journigan, were charged with Jersey by helping to coordinate and enhance attempted murder after Fletcher ordered the operations and policies of law enforcement Journigan to shoot a rival drug dealer on the at all levels – state, county and municipal. For streets in Trenton. Journigan did in fact shoot more information about the Division visit the intended victim, who survived. Just 10 www.nj.gov/oag/dcj. days after the shooting occurred, the Division arrested Fletcher and Journigan on the attempted murder charges. The defendants Overview also were charged with distributing heroin In 2014, the Division of Criminal Justice and cocaine. made New Jersey residents safer by obtaining Operation Sex, Money, Murder: The Division more state grand jury indictments and indicted the leading members of the Sex, more accusations – thereby charging more Money, Murder set of the Bloods street gang criminal defendants – than in any year since in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Following 2009. The Division also recovered millions a two-month trial, Carl Holdren, a leader of dollars in taxpayer money that had been of the gang, was convicted of first-degree stolen by thieves of all stripes, including murder, first-degree racketeering, two counts dozens who absconded with funds intended of first-degree attempted murder, two counts for the victims of Superstorm Sandy. The of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder list of offenders successfully investigated, and two counts of second-degree possession prosecuted, convicted and, in many cases, of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. sentenced as a result of Division efforts Holdren received an aggregate sentence in 2014 was extensive, and included of life imprisonment plus 40 years in state carjackers, gun runners, human traffickers, prison, with 92½ years of parole ineligibility. the perpetrators of insurance fraud, sexual Another gang leader, Valdo Thompson, predators and many more. pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, first- degree racketeering, two counts of first- degree attempted murder and two counts of Gangs & Organized first- degree conspiracy to commit murder. Thompson received an aggregate sentence of Crime Bureau 40 years in state prison. Highlights State v. Nikita Cardwell: Nikita Cardwell, Narcotics and Weapons Cases a former Senior Corrections Officer, was convicted at trial for conspiring to smuggle Operation Next Day Air: The Division indicted contraband to an inmate. While working as 15 defendants who ran a narcotics trafficking an officer at Northern State prison, Cardwell ring that used the U.S. Mail and other parcel took bribes in return for smuggling cellphones services to deliver dozens of kilograms of into the prison for inmates. Cardwell was cocaine from California to New Jersey. The convicted by a jury of second-degree official defendants included brothers Andrew and misconduct and bribery offenses, and was Kemar Davis, who were charged as leaders of sentenced to seven years in state prison, the narcotics trafficking conspiracy. Andrew including five years without parole. Davis directed the ring from Jamaica. In total, 3 New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety State v. Eugene Braswell: Eugene Braswell, State v. Denise Nagrodski: The Division a former Senior State Corrections Officer, was charged Nagrodski in November 2014 with convicted by guilty plea of first-degree cocaine attempting to hire a hit man to murder distribution for smuggling 22 kilograms her daughter’s ex-boyfriend and two other of cocaine from Texas into New Jersey. victims. Nagrodski twice met with an Braswell was sentenced to 15 years in state undercover Trooper from the State Police prison, including five years without parole. Violent Organized Crime Control South Braswell forfeited his job as a corrections Bureau, whom she believed was a hit man. officer, received a lifetime ban from public She provided the Trooper with $1,000, employment and forfeited his state pension. photos of the intended victims and a hand- Operation Wetlands: The Division drawn map of the victims’

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