Government attorneys working in the last hours before Mack goes to trial tomorrow alleged the bribery scheme was just one of five “bad acts” that show corruption by Mack, orchestrated on his behalf by Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni and others.

TRENTON — Mayor Tony Mack sought cash payments from two brothers who own junk car and towing companies in exchange for squelching efforts by a city inspector to make sure ordinances were enforced at their businesses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said this weekend.

Government attorneys working in the last hours before Mack goes to trial tomorrow alleged the bribery scheme was just one of five “bad acts” that show corruption by Mack, orchestrated on his behalf by Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni and others.

Their motion filed on yesterday asks Judge Michael A. Shipp to allow testimony about corruption outside a parking garage scheme that led to Mack’s indictment, but where no criminal charges have been filed against the mayor or his brother Ralphiel.

“All of the corrupt endeavors pertaining to Tony Mack and/or Ralphiel Mack, and Giorgianni … involved conduct similar to the conduct in the parking garage scheme — Mayor Mack, principally through Giorgianni, sought to obtain money from others in exchange for Mayor Mack’s official influence and/or exercise of his authority,” the government attorneys wrote. “Moreover, all of this conduct occurred around the same time as the conduct set forth in this indictment and, therefore, has heightened probative value.”

The FBI ran a sting that allegedly caught the Mack brothers, Giorgianni and former city employee Charles Hall III extorting cash from parking garage developers who were in reality informants. The similarities — from Giorgianni’s role as a buffer to using the code words “Uncle Remus” to refer to cash — between the government-controlled garage deal and the additional corrupt activities will likely be highlighted by the prosecution.

Mack’s trial is slated to begin tomorrow with hearings on the government motion, known as a 404b, and a defense motion that alleges Mack was entrapped by Giorgianni after Giorgianni discovered FBI surveillance in late 2011. Jury selection also is scheduled to begin tomorrow.

The mayor, his brother and Giorgianni were arrested Sept. 10, 2012, and indicted that December. Last month, Giorgianni pleaded guilty and has been removed from the case.

It remains to be seen whether he will testify on behalf of the prosecution.

Isam Abuhumoud, who owns Kaars Inc. in the city, along with his brother Nedal who owns Acres Auto in Hamilton and co-founded Kaars, allegedly wanted a city code enforcement official off their backs. Using the phrase “Uncle Remus,” which Giorgianni said under oath last month “always meant cash,” Giorgianni sought cash from the brothers on Mack’s behalf in 2011 in exchange for stopping the inspector’s enforcement, the government said.

In a conversation with Ralphiel, Giorgianni referred to one of the brothers whom the official had just ordered to remove signs that violated a city ordinance as “the lifeline,” and added that “green’s the name and getting it is my game.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office had mentioned targeting the code enforcement official in an earlier filing, but this weekend was the first time the Abuhumouds were identified by name. Both brothers were named in an FBI search warrant executed at Giorgianni’s home in July 2012, and Nedal Abuhumoud said in a 2012 interview he wanted the city’s lucrative towing contract but had been unsuccessful at getting it.

Government attorneys also said the co-conspirators sought kickbacks from city employees, that Mack, Giorgianni and Hall steered a contract for T-shirts to a business in exchange for payment, and that Giorgianni stated he had given money in the past to Mack and another city official who remains unnamed.

In the fifth act, Giorgianni and Hall gave a city contract to power-wash steps in a park to an auto detailer in exchange for cash to benefit Mack. Giorgianni admitted his role in this scheme during his guilty plea.

Mack’s lawyer Mark Davis did not comment today. Isam Abuhumoud did not respond to a request for comment left on his cell phone.

Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

An unidentified man was found dead by firefighters immediately after they extinguished a car blaze on the100 block of Hart Avenue Saturday evening.

By Alex Zdan and Nicole Mulvaney

TRENTON — Questions surrounding a dead body, a burning car, and a report of gunshots have officials stopping short of declaring Trenton’s first homicide of the New Year.

An unidentified man was found dead by firefighters immediately after they extinguished a car blaze on the 100 block of Hart Avenue Saturday evening.

“The victim is believed to be a male, but the body was badly burned,” said Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. “We are still awaiting an autopsy this week to be able to see further.”

“It is suspicious at this time,” Lt. Mark Kieffer, a city police spokesman, said today.

At 7:07 p.m., Trenton firefighters were sent out to the corner of Hart and Hurley Street on a reported house fire.

“En route, they were told there were possible shots fired,” Battalion Chief Steve Amiott said today.

Arriving three minutes after they were dispatched, the firefighters found a car engulfed in flames. After putting out the blaze, firefighters moved closer to the car to check for hot spots and remaining fire.

Then, they discovered the body in the passenger compartment, Amiott said.

The victim’s cause of death is still under investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force, DeBlasio said.

Earlier on Saturday during below-freezing temperatures that gripped the region, city police were called to the 1100 block of Brunswick Avenue at 2:06 p.m. and found 41-year-old Bogdan Wilk sitting dead on the sidewalk, Kieffer said. Wilk died of natural causes, he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the task force at (609) 989-6406 or the Trenton Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

In between, there were stabbings, drive-by shootings, ambushes with gunfire and robberies turned violent.

TRENTON — The capital city’s bloodiest year ever began with a killing 45 minutes into 2013 and ended with a slaying outside a Hamilton Avenue liquor store two days after Christmas.

In between, there were stabbings, drive-by shootings, ambushes with gunfire and robberies turned violent. In Trenton, 37 people were murdered during the last year. Two other men lost their lives in car crashes that have been as vehicular homicides, making a total of 39 homicides for 2013 — passing the record of 31 set in 2005 and obliterating the 2012 mark of 24 killings. Law enforcement officers shot two more men dead in armed confrontations.

Many of the homicides fell into the category of disputes over women, drugs and money, according to Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr., while others were of a more unusual kind.
There was the case of Luis Bryan Alvarez, who shut his front door on Fulton Street after arguing with a 17-year-old boy outside on a February night.

The teen blindly fired a single shot into the house. By some wild chance, the bullet found its mark, going through the front window, under Alvarez’s arm and into his chest. He was dead less than an hour later.

In another case, the bullet that killed Omar Hightower in 2013 had actually been fired in 2005. Hightower had been shot in the head and lived with decreased mobility and disability for eight years before dying in his Camden County apartment on July 5 last year.

An autopsy found his death was caused by the bullet that remained lodged in his head, and his death was declared a homicide. The State Police determined Hightower’s killing counted for 2013’s Trenton homicide tally.

Then there was Herbert Cummings, who was severely beaten sometime on the night of Aug. 8. Alone in his home on Rosemont Avenue, he crawled into bed, perhaps trying to sleep off the pain. A roommate found him unresponsive just before 1 a.m. and called police, but it was too late to save Cummings. Medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

Rivera said 20 of last year’s homicides fit into the cash-drugs-women category, with killers fueled by anger taking lives even as officers formed anti-crime task forces and worked to take guns off the street.

“And we do all those things,” Rivera said. “But the reality is, if I have a dispute with you, I’m going to wait until that police presence is no longer there.”

On May 25 at the Roger Gardens housing complex in the West Ward, 19-year-old Devahje Bing beat up a 15-year-old boy who owed him $30. Later that afternoon, the younger teen got a handgun from a 22-year-old friend and shot Bing dead, according to police.

The availability of illegal guns is also a factor in the homicide rate, because as shootings increase, inevitably there will be more homicides, said Lt. Steve Varn, head of the department’s detective bureau. For that reason, he said, further efforts should be made to reduce the number of guns in circulation.

“It’s obvious to us that there were a large number of guns on the street,” Varn said. “Do we want to take more and more off? Absolutely.”

Of the 37 total murders, 31 were shooting deaths. Five were stabbings, and Cummings’ death was ruled a beating.

Rivera, who is 21 months into the job of being director, said reduced police manpower is another reason why homicides are difficult to control.

Rivera says he can still see the impact of mass layoffs in September 2011 that had over 100 officers terminated. Supervisors were demoted, and some positions left empty by retirements have sat unfilled.

“That’s one of the main factors, absolutely,” he said. “When you reduce your force ... it’s going to have an effect.”

Four homicides were reported outside the city in 2013: one apiece for Ewing, East Windsor, Hamilton and Hopewell Township. The Hopewell case was at the Mercer County Correction Center.

Ten people were killed in vehicular homicides, most of those multiple fatalities like the one on Interstate 95 in December that left two young women and one man dead.

Of the 37 city murders, detectives arrested suspects in 16 cases. Investigations into two other killings ended almost as soon as they began with the death of Gerald Murphy, who stabbed his girlfriend to death inside her home on Grand Street April 25, then murdered her 13-year-old son. Murphy barricaded himself, the corpse of his girlfriend Carmenlita Stevens and three of her four surviving children inside a tiny second floor bedroom for 12 days before police discovered the horror.

After a 37-hour standoff where Murphy threatened to kill the children, tactical troopers from the New Jersey State Police stormed the house and shot Murphy dead when he moved toward one of them with a knife in his hand. The gun Murphy used to keep police at bay through the standoff was found to be a fake, however.

For Rivera, a shooting that stands out from 2013 was the Aug. 15 shootout that nearly killed one city detective, wounded another, and left the suspect dead.

“It made me realize the kind of things we’re experiencing in the city,” he said. “It made me appreciate the detectives, the men and women of the department, who work hard on a daily basis.”

Even with the violence on the streets, the director sees reason for hope.

“Still, overall, with everything else included — crime is down 15 percent,” Rivera said.

He cheered the arrival of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force, which put city homicide detectives under county command. Working with counterparts in the prosecutor’s office, sheriff’s office, and township police departments, the new unit will have more manpower investigating homicides than ever before.

“It’s going to finally, finally give our officers the time to address these cold cases,” Rivera said. “I know that there’s going to be a positive impact.”

“I think it’s long overdue with the conditions we are facing in this city,” Rivera said.

And the first new officers since the layoffs are on their way to the department’s ranks.

“The door’s been opened, we’ve got the permission for the 15 new hires,” Rivera said.

The State Police Targeted Integrated Deployment Effort, or TIDE, which augments the city policing effort, started on Aug. 15, the same day Detective Edgar Rios was seriously wounded and Detective James Letts was shot in the shoulder.

Authorities credited the deployment for a homicide-free month between late August and late September, after a bloody summer where the city was averaging two violent deaths per week and 20 people lost their lives between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

“That, absolutely, that works,” Rivera said. “I think it’s still working. We still have a trooper presence in the city.”

TIDE is ongoing, but it will be up to Trenton to put in place lasting strategies to keep violence at bay, Rivera said.

“Eventually, we have to take care of our own city,” he said.

Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

The bloody year saw 37 killings in the city, four elsewhere in Mercer County, 12 vehicular homicides countywide, and two men shot dead in Trenton by law enforcement.

TRENTON HOMICIDES, 2013:

Jan. 1
Victim: James Threadgill, 54
Manner: Shooting
Location: 803 E. State St.
Details: New Jersey’s first homicide of 2013, Threadgill was killed 45 minutes into the new year after DeSean Clark allegedly cut into the line inside Passions liquor store. Threadgill objected to Clark’s actions, and a verbal argument spilled outside. As Threadgill tried to hit Clark, Clark allegedly shot him in the head and leg, authorities said.
Suspect: DeSean Clark, 32, arrested Jan. 17.

Jan. 21
Victim: Andre Corbett, 35
Manner: Shooting
Location: 194 Oakland St.
Details: Corbett was shot several times in broad daylight in front of the doorway to a West Ward housing project. Authorities have not released details on the motive.
Suspects: Keith Wells-Holmes, 20, arrested the next day, identified as the gunman. Zihqwan Clemens, 22, allegedly drove Wells-Holmes to and from the killing, also charged with murder.

Jan. 23
Victim: Benito Escalante, 26
Manner: Shooting
Location: 1004 S. Clinton Ave.
Details: While inside a home being used as a brothel, Escalante was shot in the head and killed by three intruders. 911 callers heard a man screaming before a gunshot. It took police eight days to positively identify Escalante, whose family is in Guatemala.
Suspects: Three unknown males

Feb. 11
Victim: Marcus Hunter, 16
Manner: Shooting
Location: First block of Beakes Street
Details: Hunter was gunned down at 2:30 p.m. on the sidewalk across the street from the Donnelly Homes housing project. Police did not specify a motive in the killing.
Suspects: Unknown

Feb. 26
Victim: James Austin, 18
Manner: Shooting
Location: 900 block of East State Street
Details: Austin, the son of retired city cop and U.S. Marshals task force member Luddie Austin, was shot dead in the doorway of his girlfriend’s home following a pair of personal disputes. After Raheem Currie and Austin quarreled, fought, and broke each other’s windshields earlier in the day, Currie came back with another man, who was armed and wanted to shoot up Austin’s house, police said. After Austin refused to pay for the damage to Currie’s car, he was shot in the chest.
Suspects: Robert S. Bartley, 22, arrested by marshals the next morning and charged with murder. Later he made a full confession. Currie also was charged the next day with weapons offenses.

Feb. 26
Victim: Luis Bryan Alvarez, 25
Manner: Shooting
Location: 200 block of Fulton Street
Details: Alvarez was inside his home with family, including a baby, when a man banged on his front door. Alvarez exchanged words with the man, who tried to rob him. After Alvarez shut the door, the robber fired a single, random shot that went through a first-floor window and struck Alvarez under the arm. He was dead an hour later.
Suspect: 17-year-old male, arrested March 2. Also charged with robberies and a home invasion in the area.

Robert Smith is charged with murder in the shooting death of Saddiq Howlen.Mercer County Prosecutor's Office 

April 25
Victim: Carmenlita Stevens, 44
Manner: Stabbing and beating
Location: 250 Grand St.
Details: Gerald Murphy stabbed his girlfriend to death inside her home, later killing her son and forcing three remaining children to stay inside a small bedroom with their mother’s body. Another son was kept in the basement with the couple’s dogs. Two weeks later, police officers brought to the home by a family member discovered the horror and got the teenage son from the basement. Murphy threatened to kill the children he was holding hostage, which sparked a 37-hour standoff before Murphy was killed and the children freed.
Suspect: Gerald Murphy, 38, killed by State Police who stormed the house to free the hostages.

April 25
Victim: Quavon Foster, 13
Manner: Stabbing
Location: 250 Grand St.
Details: The same night that Murphy killed Quavon’s mother Carmenlita Stevens, he stabbed Quavon to death inside the home on Grand Street and left the body in an upstairs back room. Police officers would discover Quavon’s body when they were called to the house on May 14.
Suspect: Gerald Murphy.

May 4
Victim: Ira Charles, 24
Manner: Shooting
Location: 200 block of Randall Avenue
Details: Charles and a friend were on a porch when they were robbed by two masked men. As they took slightly longer to empty their pockets than the robbers wanted, one robber fired a shot from an arm’s length away that struck Charles in the chest, killing him.
Suspects: Two males, in their early 20s, thin builds, one 5-foot-6, one 5-foot-8.

May 25
Victim: Devahje Bing, 19
Manner: Shooting
Location: 100 block of Oakland Street
Details: Bing fought and beat a teen who argued with him over a $30 debt, but was killed later in the day when the younger man armed himself and shot Bing several times.
Suspects: 15-year-old male, arrested May 27. Was wearing a GPS ankle monitor due to a juvenile charge. Kareem McNeil, 22, arrested June 19 and charged with murder for allegedly handing the 15-year-old a gun seconds before the killing.

May 29
Hamidullah Hardy, 34
Manner: Shooting
Location: First block of Cleveland Avenue
Details: Hardy was accosted by unknown suspects on Cleveland Avenue shortly after midnight. Shot several times, Hardy ran up the street and collapsed on a front porch. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Suspects: None

June 1
Victim: Celeste Pernell, 54
Manner: Stabbing
Location: 800 block of Southard Street
Details: Pernell’s live-in boyfriend allegedly stabbed her more than a dozen times with a pair of scissors, which he left in the side of her neck when he fled the home. When he surfaced in Camden the next day and confided in someone he had committed a murder in Trenton, that person called police. Officers forced entry to the home and found Pernell’s body inside. Pernell’s son was murdered in 1999.
Suspects: William Nobles, 39, charged with murder June 2.

June 9
Victim: Berkely Walter McDaniel, 61
Manner: Shooting
Location: 400 block of Stuyvesant Avenue
Details: McDaniel and 51-year-old Charlie Boston were walking home when shots rang out. McDaniel, whom police do not believe was the intended target of the shooting, was struck in the head and killed. Other bullets struck Boston in the shoulder and an NJ Transit bus.
Suspects: None

June 12
Victim: Rayshawn Ransom, 19
Manner: Shooting
Location: 100 block of Passaic Street
Details: Ransom was among four men who went to make peace with another group they had quarreled with on Passaic Street. Ransom stayed inside the car when three men on the sidewalk started shooting. He was shot in the head and chest and was kept on life support so his organs could be harvested. Ransom was officially pronounced dead several days later.
Suspects: Alton Jones, 21, arrested in New Haven, Conn., July 9. Allegedly fired the bullet that killed Ransom, but Jones’ brother Marquise Skillman, 27, and Dyquise Leonard also fired shots and were charged with murder. Skillman was charged June 17.

Alton JonesTrenton Police Department 

June 29
Victim: Garious Denard Burton, 30
Manner: Shooting
Location: Franklin Street and Morris Avenue
Details: Officers patrolling in the Chambersburg area around 1:15 a.m. heard one gunshot, turned a corner and found Burton lying in the intersection. He had been shot in the forehead. Burton remained on life support into the next day before being pronounced dead. With no witnesses found, circumstances of the shooting are unclear.
Suspects: None

July 5
Victim: Omar Hightower, 28 (shot Nov. 13, 2005)
Manner: Shooting
Location: 261 Walnut Ave.
Details: During the intense gang wars of 2005, Hightower was accosted by three men and shot seven to nine times. Despite serious injuries, he made some improvements over the years but a bullet that struck him in the head that day eventually cost him his life. Hightower died inside his Camden home.
Suspect: Darrell Griffin, arrested and indicted for murder. Case formally dismissed Sept. 12, 2006, due to Hightower’s inability to testify. No charges have been announced since Hightower’s death.

July 6
Victim: Thomas William “Doo Doo” Barnes, 21
Manner: Shooting
Location: Stuyvesant and Exton avenues
Details: Shots were fired at the West Ward intersection where Barnes was standing alone around 9:40 p.m. Struck in the chest, arm and groin, Barnes managed to make it to the front door of his home on the 400 block of Stuyvesant Avenue before collapsing. Police had no information on his killers.
Suspects: None

July 21
Victim: Quaadir “Ace” Gurley, 24
Manner: Shooting
Location: 120 Rossell Ave.
Details: Gurley was at his girlfriend’s home inside the Donnelly Homes housing project when he was ambushed and killed. One of the shooters was hit in the leg and fled to Sanhican Drive in the city’s West Ward. Gurley, allegedly a high-ranking drug crew leader, had been targeted for assassination at least twice in 2012 and was apparently involved in a feud with a group based around Sanhican Drive. He was unarmed when he died, with both his killer and another, unidentified gunman firing shots.
Suspects: Isiah Greene, 20, arrested Nov. 18. A second gunman sought.

July 23
Victim: Rasheen Jones, 31
Manner: Shooting
Location: East Stuyvesant Avenue
Details: Jones, a father of two, left a Prospect Street convenience store with some toilet paper and was walking home with another man when he was accosted on a dark alleyway by two robbers. During the holdup, one suspect passed a handgun to the other, who shot Jones in the head at point-blank range.
Suspects: Zaire Smith, 18, arrested Aug. 22. Knowell Desmond, 21, arrested Aug. 30 in Lindenwald. Both charged with robbery and murder. Desmond identified Smith as the triggerman to authorities.

Aug. 3
Victim: Nyquan Owens, 20
Manner: Shooting
Location: 300 block of Brunswick Avenue
Details: Walking home in the early hours, Owens was shot in the head by an unknown suspect who fled on foot. Owens, who was arrested on weapons charges July 26 and had a trial in another case scheduled for three days after he was killed, was dead at the scene.
Suspects: None

Aug. 3
Victim: Barry Church, 52
Manner: Shooting
Location: 1151 E. State St.
Details: Church was a block and a half from his house and sitting on a porch when he was caught in the crossfire of an apparent robbery attempt and shooting. Also hit were a 22-year-old who was shot in the neck, crashed his car nearby and died, and an 18-year-old shot in the leg. Hit by a bullet under his arm, Church was found quickly by Detective Edgar Rios, who would be shot and seriously wounded in the line of duty 12 days later. Church died at the scene. Acting Attorney General John Hoffman later said it was news of Church’s death that led him to order the New Jersey State Police to undertake the Tactical Integrated Deployment Effort or TIDE in Trenton.
Suspects: None. Eyewitnesses believe there were at least two shooters.

Aug. 3
Victim: Hassan Allen, 22
Manner: Shooting
Location: 800 block of East State Street
Details: Shot in the neck during the same shooting that took Church’s life, Allen tried to drive away from the scene but crashed his car three blocks away. His vehicle struck two pedestrians, one of whom was Philadelphia resident Carmen Wright, who suffered head trauma and a fractured pelvis. Wright was in extremely critical condition for days, then spent months in the ICU. Allen was pronounced dead inside the vehicle shortly after the crash. His involvement in the shooting was unclear.
Suspects: None

Stanley Miller.Mercer County Prosecutor's Office 

Aug. 10
Victim: Adelso Buendia, 53
Manner: Shooting
Location: Grand and Elm streets
Details: Buendia was walking on the street when he was accosted and shot once in the head. Police gave no information on the motive.
Suspects: None

Aug. 16
Victim: Kayron Jones, 25
Manner: Shooting
Location: 600 block of North Olden Avenue
Details: Jones was shot in the chest during a home invasion by four armed men. Entering through a window, the suspects robbed two men downstairs, then went upstairs to where Jones was asleep in a bedroom. Anthony Hemingway, 24, allegedly fired one shot that hit Jones in the hand and traveled into his chest, killing him. Jones had been arrested by the New Jersey State Police in the city the day before he was killed, but detectives do not believe the arrest had any connection to his death.
Suspects: Anthony Hemingway, arrested in Maryland Sept. 6; Naquan Chance, arrested in Trenton Sept. 4; London Feliciano, 24, surrendered Sept. 4 in Maryland; Quoshean Williams, 23, turned himself into police in Surprise, Ariz., on Sept. 5.

Aug. 23
Victim: Jafar Lewis, 31
Manner: Shooting
Location: Middle Rose Street near Martin Luther King Boulevard
Details: Lewis had had a previous disagreement with his alleged killer, a member of his extended family, but believed the dispute was patched up. While driving with his fiancée in the North Ward late the night of Aug. 23, Lewis stopped when he saw his relative’s car. When Lewis, a hip-hop artist whose star was rising, got out to greet him, Lewis was shot dead before the fiancée’s eyes.
Suspect: Wayne Bush, 35, charged with murder Aug. 30.

Aug. 29
Victim: Brandon Nance, 26
Manner: Shooting
Location: 63 Butler St.
Details: Two gunmen chased Nance through Chambersburg at midday, firing multiple shots at him before catching up to him on the sidewalk in front of Italian People’s Bakery. There, in front of the landmark city business, they shot him multiple times. Police said Nance had an extensive criminal history.
Suspects: Two men, not wearing masks, no further description available.

Sept. 29
Victim: Raul Cruz, 25
Manner: Stabbing
Location: 826 S. Clinton Ave.
Details: Early the morning of Sept. 29, Cruz was allegedly stabbed to death by one of the roommates who lived with him in South Trenton. The killer stabbed Cruz once in the chest with a steak knife. Police officers found his killer being restrained by others and placed him under arrest.
Suspect: Fredy Gonzalez-Augustin, 20, arrested at the scene and charged with murder.

Nov. 18
Victim: Ruhallman Kearney, 26
Manner: Shooting
Location: 23 Sanhican Drive
Details: Police were tipped off minutes after Kearney was fatally shot inside a vacant building on the West Ward residential street. When the officers arrived, they found Kearney inside, shot once in the arm and multiple times in the abdomen. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Four young men were rounded up by police at the scene for questioning but ultimately released.
Suspects: None

Nov. 21
Victim: Devon “Flash” Hewitt, 47
Manner: Shooting
Location: 100 block of Phillips Avenue
Details: Hewitt was inside a home with several friends for a game of cards when one person shot him to death. Police gave no motive for the killing of the Jamaican immigrant and a union construction worker, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Suspects: None

Dec. 19
Victim: Shamere Melvin 17
Manner: Shooting
Location: 363 N. Clinton Ave.
Details: Shamere, a student at Rubino Academy, was walking home talking on the phone with his girlfriend when he was shot in the back of the head at close range. Police had no information on motive in the case.
Suspect: 16-year-old city boy, arrested Dec. 20. Name not released due to his age.

Dec. 21
Victim: Brandon Varlow, 24
Manner: Shooting
Location: Jersey Street and Home Avenue
Details: Varlow was among a crowd of people in front of a South Ward convenience store when a car stopped and at least one gunman inside opened fire. The drive-by shooting left Varlow dead and four other people wounded. The store was the same site where Sidiq Howlen was killed on April 5 in a drive-by shooting.
Suspects: None

Dec. 27
Victim: Robert Wright, 32
Manner: Shooting
Location: 255 Hamilton Ave.
Details: Wright, a convicted drug dealer who’s last known address was Bridgeton, Camden County, was standing outside Bilancio’s Wines & Liquors when a gunman walked up and opened fire. Wright was fatally shot in the chest, while a 30-year-old Ewing man with him was shot in the leg and a 62-year-old woman shot above the knee. Detectives believe there may have been two shooters.
Suspects: One or two shooters, no description available.

OUTSIDE TRENTON:

Keyon PowellMercer County Prosecutor's Office 

Cristian Lemus-Estrada.Mercer County Prosecutor's Office 

EAST WINDSOR, April 9
Victim: Carlos Tinizhanay-Arias, 28, East Windsor resident
Manner: Stabbing
Location: Windsor Castle Apartments
Details: Tinizhanay-Arias was drinking at a friend’s house in the apartment complex where he lived when he got into a fight with and choked Christian Lemus-Estrada, authorities said. Lemus-Estrada left the apartment, but returned five minutes later with a kitchen knife and allegedly plunged it into Tinizhanay-Arias’ torso under his arm. Tinizhanay-Arias was pronounced dead within an hour.
Suspect: Christian Lemus-Estrada, 18, arrested hours later at the same complex.

HAMILTON, July 12
Victim: Shakir Williams, 17, Trenton resident
Manner: Shooting
Location: 100 block of Deutz Avenue
Details: Williams was among 100 teens at a birthday party when a young man pulled out a gun in the living room and began shooting. Five people were hit, including Shakir, who fled into a bedroom. Police officers arriving at the chaotic scene took 55 minutes to find Shakir’s body and radio for an ambulance. When medical personnel arrived, Shakir was pronounced dead. Township police and the prosecutor’s office were frustrated by the large number of witnesses who were unwilling to cooperate.
Suspects: None.

Lamar Gaines (left) and Darryl Boone (right)Mercer Couny Prosecutor 

All information from Trenton Police and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office unless otherwise specified.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

In a motion hearing before jury selection began, Judge Michael A. Shipp scolded the defense and prosecution for bringing him arguments on throwing out wiretapped conversations without specifying which recordings were to be dropped.

TRENTON - Opposing views of reality in a government-authored corruption sting brought Mayor Tony Mack's trial to a start this morning in federal court.

In an 8 a.m. motion hearing before jury selection began, the defense team of Mack and his brother Ralphiel sought to have months of wiretaps thrown out. Both the arguments of Ralphiel Mack's lawyer Robert Haney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Moran focused on the one person who was not at the defense table: Joseph "JoJo" Giorgianni, who pleaded guilty in December.

Mack and his brother Ralphiel jogged across a rain-soaked East State Street and into the courthouse a block from City Hall this morning for the first day of trial expected to last about six weeks. The mayor said nothing except for a helpful suggestion that a cameraman should watch his step on the wet concrete.

Mack's attorney Mark Davis did not speak during the motion hearing, leaving the arguing to Haney who called the government sting operation "something of a fiction."

The FBI used cooperating witnesses to front a fake parking garage project, and say they caught Mack selling the influence of his office through Giorgianni and with the help of Ralphiel Mack. Giorgianni admitted his role in statements during his guilty plea.

"And these are made by a person who has been diagnosed with an inability to tell the truth," Haney said. "And the government has introduced these statements as if they were true."

For example, Haney said, Giorgianni divvied up bribe proceeds in November 2011 in Atlantic City and gestured across the casino floor to Mack. Giorgianni did that knowing there was surveillance in the area, Haney said.

Citing nine specific instances where Giorgianni talked about listening devices in JoJo's Steak House or the nearby clubhouse, Haney said Giorgianni was aware of the sting and used it to set up Mack. Haney alleged Giorgianni worked with his longtime companion Mary Manfredo and former water meter reader Charles Hall III.

"There is a conspiracy in this case," Haney said. "It is a conspiracy, we believe, between JoJo Giorgianni, Charlie Hall and Mary Manfredo."

"Everything comes through JoJo Giorgianni," he added.

Moran argued the opposite, that Giorgianni's involvement in other alleged corrupt schemes shows Giorgianni was not mugging for the FBI cameras and recorders.

One of the questions about how Giorgianni will factor in the case was answered this morning, Haney said the defense will not call him as a witness.

"It would be unethical for me to call Mr. Giorgianni to the witness stand knowing he was going to lie," Haney said.

Judge Michael A. Shipp denied the defense motion but was blunt with both sides.

"I don't like the way you handled this particular motion," Shipp said to both sides.

Shipp was angered that the recordings at issue were not specified, and said now he will have to rule on them as they come up in the trial.

Jury selection is ongoing at this hour, with the pool consisting of more than 70 people, among them a retired city detective. The vast majority of the jurors are white.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Manuel Gutierrez Vazquez, 27, drove his Dodge Durango the wrong way on Route 29 and crashed into a Nissan Quest driven by Jorge DeLeon of Trenton.

Jorge DeLeon of Elm Street, Trenton, was killed on Father's Day in a head-on crash in Hamilton. His daughter, Jasmine, 4, died the next day after she was taken off life support.Courtesy DeLeon Family 

Manuel Gutierrez Vazquez, 27, admitted drinking four or five mixed drinks at an outdoor Trenton party before attempting to drive home to Camden, Assistant Prosecutor Skylar Weissman said.

Vazquez drove his Dodge Durango the wrong way on Route 29 and crashed into a Nissan Quest driven by Jorge DeLeon of Trenton. Both cars were traveling at about 65 mph, authorities have said.

“The defendant has said he has no recollection of driving southbound in the northbound lane,” Weissman said.

DeLeon was pronounced dead at the scene, and his daughter Jasmine, 4, was taken off life support at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia the next day. DeLeon’s son, 7-year-old Guzmario, survived the crash with broken bones.

Vazquez has been charged with two counts of death by auto and one count of assault by auto. If convicted, he faces between five and 10 years in prison for each count, Weissman said.

Vazquez also was charged with driving while intoxicated and driving without having been issued a driver's license in the United States, the prosecutor's office said.

Toxicology results have not been made available to prosecutors, Weissman said. Vazquez was arrested for drunken driving just weeks before the June 16 crash, prosecutors said.

He was in Camden working as a welder, and was in the country illegally, prosecutors said.

“My understanding is he has no contact with this area. He travels from state to state with his job,” Weissman said.

Vazquez was born in Mexico and has been in New Jersey for about four years, Judge Robert Billmeier said.

Billmeier called Vazquez a “flight risk” before maintaining his bail at $400,000 cash or bond.

He also is being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and could face deportation after this case is resolved.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Trenton police responded to a call at 7:13 p.m. and found the man dead near the intersection of Columbia Avenue and Lee Avenue, Trenton police say.

TRENTON — A man was shot dead tonight on Columbia Avenue in Trenton, officials said.

Trenton police responded to a call at 7:13 p.m. and found the man dead near the intersection of Columbia Avenue and Lee Avenue, Lt. Steven Varn of the Trenton Police Department said.

The victim was found in the street next to a parked vehicle, where Trenton detectives and members of the city’s Crime Scene Unit could be seen investigating for a number of hours after the shooting.

Police were not able to provide the identity of the victim or any suspect information tonight.

Police cordoned off Columbia from Lee Avenue half-way down the block to Bloomfield Avenue. Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. was at the scene.

As a crowd gathered around the crime scene in the hours after the shooting, one woman repeatedly yelled, “Take the city back.”

The Mercer County Homicide Task Force will investigate, Varn said.

Anyone with information may reach the homicide task force at (609) 989-6406, or call the Trenton police Confidential Tip Line at 989-3663.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Judge Michael Shipp was angered that the defendants had not specified which recordings they thought should be rejected.

TRENTON — Truth, fiction, and Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni’s relationship with the two were at the center of arguments in front of Judge Michael A. Shipp as the trial of Mayor Tony Mack on corruption charges began this morning.

At issue are months of wiretaps made by the FBI during an investigation that used a sham parking garage project as part of a sting operation. Defense lawyers wanted the wiretap evidence thrown out, saying it was compromised by Giorgianni, Mack’s former co-defendant, who sought to set up Mack and his brother Ralphiel, also indicted and on trial.

Shipp denied the defense motion but was blunt with both sides.

“I don’t like the way you handled this particular motion,” Shipp said to both sides.

Shipp was angered that the defendants had not specified which recordings they thought should be rejected, and the judge said he will have to rule on them individually as they come up in the trial.

“What, in essence, you ask me to do is parse through the tapes and say, ‘This one’s good,’ ‘This one’s no good,’” he said.

Ralphiel Mack’s attorney, Robert Haney, said the defense will try to make it easier on Shipp by filing another motion that explains which recordings they think should be not be accepted as evidence during the trial.

Giorgianni was arrested and indicted alongside the Mack brothers in 2012 but pleaded guilty in December.

Today, Haney alleged that Giorgianni said and did things while under FBI surveillance that were intended to make Tony Mack appear guilty.

“There is a conspiracy in this case,” Haney said, also accusing two others. “It is a conspiracy, we believe, between JoJo Giorgianni, Charlie Hall and Mary Manfredo.” Manfredo is Giorgianni’s longtime companion, and Hall is a former city water meter reader.

Haney brought up nine specific instances where Giorgianni alluded to or directly mentioned listening devices planted in JoJo’s Steak House or a home two doors down known as the “clubhouse.” In one of those nine conversations, Giorgianni mentions how unusual it was for the Verizon trucks in the area to be working at 12:30 a.m., while Manfredo told him he shouldn’t mention it to Mack, according to Haney.

The defense argued that, once Giorgianni became aware of the surveillance in December 2011, he used it to stage for the government a venture that included Mack’s involvement, all to protect himself, Hall and Manfredo from charges in the illegal dealing of prescription painkillers. Manfredo, Giorgianni, and Hall have since pleaded guilty to their roles in the separate drug case.

In addition, Haney said, in November 2011 Giorgianni divvied up bribe proceeds in Atlantic City and gestured across a casino floor to Mack. Giorgianni did that knowing there was surveillance in the area.

“JoJo, for the cameras we contend, points at Tony Mack for the purpose of playing to the camera,” Haney said. “He is trying to implicate Tony Mack.”

Haney argued the case against Mack was “something of a fiction” already due to the FBI sting and became more farfetched because of Giorgianni’s theatrics.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Moran argued the opposite, that Giorgianni’s involvement in other alleged corrupt schemes on Mack’s behalf shows Giorgianni was not mugging for the FBI cameras and recorders.

Moran said that a co-owner of the auto wrecking and towing business Kaars Inc., Nedal Abuhumoud, complained to Giorgianni in 2011 that a code enforcement officer had ordered signs that violated a local ordinance to be removed from the business. The intent was to use Giorgianni’s influence over Mack to get the code officer to back away, Moran said.

“The very next call was Giorgianni to Ralphiel Mack, and he explained ex
actly what was going on,” Moran said.

Moran said this was part of a scheme involving the Macks to collect a payoff from the Abuhumouds.

Harold Hall, city public property director and an ex-cop, warned Mack about Giorgianni and Hall, his nephew, saying “they will bring the FBI to you,” Moran said. Yet, Mack never separated himself from Giorgianni, Moran said.

Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

After 22 weeks of training, 39 officers graduated from the Mercer County Police Academy yesterday.

WEST WINDSOR — After 22 weeks of training, 39 officers graduated from the Mercer County Police Academy yesterday.

Academy Director Albert Paglione and Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr. were among the speakers at the graduation ceremony at Mercer County Community College Kelsey Theater Auditorium in West Windsor.

Christopher Miranda of the Perth Amboy Police Department was chosen by classmates to be the class speaker.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Investigators are seeking a motive in the shooting death of 25-year-old Keyaan Young Monday night. His death is the city's first confirmed homicide of 2014.

TRENTON - The city's first confirmed homicide victim of the New Year was a 25-year-old Trenton man with several prior drug convictions, authorities said.

Keeyan Young was shot in the head around 7:15 p.m. Monday on Columbia Avenue near the intersection with Lee Avenue, said Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.

Trenton police officers called to the scene of a shooting in progress report found Young in the street, DeBlasio said. He was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

After a record-breaking year in which Trenton recorded more homicides than ever before, Young's death is the first recorded slaying of 2014. Detectives are still investigating how a man whose charred body was found in the passenger compartment of a burning car Saturday evening died.

DeBlasio said an autopsy in that case is scheduled for today, but it is unlikely to reveal the man's identity or how exactly he died. The body is so badly burned that the medical examiner will likely have to use dental records or DNA to find out who the victim is.

Firefighters heading to the car blaze on Hart Avenue received reports that shots were fired, but police said it's possible the heat of the fire causing the car windows to burst may have been mistaken for gunfire.

Both cases remain under investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force. No information on a potential motive has been released in either case.

Anyone with information should call the task force at (609) 989-6406 or the Trenton police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Eric Maltz, 22, pleaded not guilty to aggravated manslaughter, death by auto and assault by auto.

A Princeton man pleaded not guilty today to charges stemming from a March 28 crash that killed a retired Princeton University rabbi.

Eric Maltz, 21, was recklessly driving a BMW at a high speed on Riverside Drive when he crashed into a parked Toyota Camry that then hit a Toyota Prius, killing 74-year-old Rabbi James Diamond, who retired as executive director of Princeton University’s Center for Jewish Life in 2003, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has said.

Diamond was getting into the stopped Prius and was thrown away from the car and pronounced dead at the scene. Rabbi Robert Freedman, 63, was in the driver’s seat and was seriously injured in the crash.

Maltz pleaded not guilty to aggravated manslaughter, death by auto and assault by auto.

No plea offer was extended yesterday, but the prosecutor’s office has said that, if convicted, Maltz could face a maximum of 30 years in state prison.

In court today, Maltz’s lawyer Robert Lytle said he is considering retaining a psychiatrist to draft a report, but declined to say what information would be included in the report. Maltz has a history of mental health issues and was taken to a psychiatric hospital after the crash, police said in April.

Lytle said he is also considering hiring an expert who could testify about the speed Maltz was traveling at the time of the crash. Police have said Maltz was traveling at an “extremely high rate of speed.”

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Former Mayor Douglas Palmer was surprised to learn his name was on the list.

By Alex Zdan and Jenna Pizzi

TRENTON — The trial of Mayor Tony Mack began yesterday with rainy skies, an early hearing on wiretap evidence, and a long afternoon of jury selection.

Candidates for the jury were read a list of 41 people who may be called to the stand or could have their name mentioned in the case. The list included Mack loyalists, city employees, Trenton’s former mayor, the father and son owners of a T-shirt company, and Mack’s election campaign advisers.

The list was compiled by the prosecution, but a few names were added by the defense, Mack’s attorney Mark Davis said.

Five people on the list are FBI agents, and one is a court-paid investigator who works for the defense. Four of them, including former codefendant Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni, were indicted in a separate drug case, and three are current or former heads of City Hall departments.

Former Mayor Douglas Palmer was surprised to learn his name was on the list.

“If subpoenaed, I will certainly testify on whatever they ask me,” Palmer said. “But I have no knowledge of this case.”

Mayoral aide Anthony Roberts, Mack’s virtual shadow at public functions, also was on the list.

“I have not been approached or asked to testify,” Roberts said last night. “I have no reason to believe why I would be on it.”

Mack and his brother Ralphiel, who are being tried on indictments for extortion, bribery, wire fraud, and mail fraud, spent seven hours inside the courtroom yesterday as potential jury members were introduced, rejected, or kept. By the end of the day, Judge Michael A. Shipp said he believed the jury selection was complete.

After court, Davis said he was happy with the jury as it was selected.

“I hope there are no changes,” Davis said.

The 16 panelists — 12 jurors and four alternates — were selected from a pool of more than 70 people brought into the courtroom on the fifth floor of the East State Street federal courthouse. The prospective jurors came from Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, southern Middlesex and Warren counties.

More than 35 jurors were rejected by the judge or attorneys throughout the day. The jurors chosen to determine the Macks’ innocence or guilt included nine women and seven men, and among them were a children’s event planner, a flight attendant and a pharmaceutical chemist.

Two of the selected jurors — one man and one woman — were minorities. “It’s never really a jury of your peers,” Davis said.

Before any jurors were called up for possible selection, Shipp introduced the group to the basics of the case, and asked the attorneys and defendants to introduce themselves. Mack turned around quickly to face the jury pool seated in the courtroom’s gallery with a slight grin and a quick wave after Davis introduced him as Trenton’s mayor.

Shipp read out the list of 41 names of people who may be called to the stand or involved in the case, asking the jury candidates if they had any potential conflicts or biases.

Names included brothers Isam and Nedal Abuhumoud, who allegedly sought to bribe Mack through Giorgianni in exchange for getting a city code inspector to stop enforcement. Water department employees Rodney Washington and Terrance Bailey, known Mack loyalists, are included, along with Joseph and Nick Chiarello of Trenton Joe & Son, which won a contract for delivering T-shirts through Charles Hall III, a former city employee and admitted co-conspirator.

Davis said the defense added Walter Denson, the city’s housing and economic development director and former law director, to the list of prospective witnesses.
“We have interviewed him,” Davis said. Davis declined to say what benefit Denson’s testimony would provide to the defense.

Denson did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.

Harry Farsett and John “Bear” Ferrara are friends of Giorgianni’s who accompanied him on one of two trips to Atlantic City with Mack and are on the list. At those meetings, discussions allegedly took place related to a phony parking garage project that was part of the FBI’s sting operation to snare Mack and others.

Dave Tallone, a former head of the city employees union and who attended a November 2011 dinner in Atlantic City, was also listed. Deceased cooperating witness Lemuel Blackburn remains on the list, along with cooperator Harry Seymour. Jack Washington, a Trenton Central High School teacher who accompanied Mack to a party in Atlantic County in 2010, is there, along with Dan Toto, who managed Mack’s 2010 mayoral campaign.

Eric Wallace and Shambre Steward, who allegedly kicked back money to Hall in exchange for dirt removal and power-washing work, are on the list but it is unclear whether they will testify.

During the selection process, the jurors were asked to answer 30 questions each, about what they do for a living, where they live, their spouse or significant other’s occupation, if they have ever been arrested, or know people in law enforcement. The questions also asked them to name their favorite television show and book. The jurors were asked about their knowledge of the case and where they get their news.

During the daylong selection, Mack sat quietly, inching over to talk to his brother every once in a while during a break in the proceedings.

Some members of the jury who were chosen said they had heard about the case, but most said they didn’t read much past the headlines. A prospective juror who was a former television producer and another who had “researched this case extensively,” were eliminated from the panel.

The jurors were asked to return on Thursday morning at 9:30 when, barring any unforeseen problems, they will be sworn in and the trial will begin. Davis said opening arguments could begin on Thursday if all goes as planned.

Tomorrow, the attorneys are expected return to court for a pretrial hearing on the admissibility of specific wiretap and recorded evidence to be used during the trial.

Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

An autopsy completed today by the medical examiner revealed that the man found in the car died from a gunshot wound, officials said.

TRENTON — The death of a man found in a burning car on Hart Avenue Saturday has been ruled a homicide, Mercer County officials said today.

An autopsy completed today by the medical examiner revealed that the man found in the car died from a gunshot wound, Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the county prosecutor’s office, said.

The man, whom officials still have not identified, was found dead by firefighters immediately after they extinguished a car blaze on the 100 block of Hart Avenue Saturday evening.

At 7:07 p.m., Trenton firefighters were sent out to the corner of Hart Avenue and Hurley Street on a reported house fire.

Arriving three minutes after they were dispatched, the firefighters found a car engulfed in flames. After putting out the blaze, firefighters moved closer to the car to check for hot spots and remaining fire. Then, they discovered the body in the passenger area, Battalion Chief Steve Amiott said.

There is currently no suspect information and the Mercer County Homicide Task Force continues to investigate this death, DeBlasio said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the task force at (609) 989-6406 or the Trenton Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

On Nov. 11, 2012, Carl Batie, 26, was killed at a party at the Baldassari Regency banquet hall on Morris Avenue in Trenton.

A Trenton man yesterday pleaded not guilty in the shooting death of an off-duty corrections officer in November 2012.

Hykeem Tucker, 27, is charged with murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and three counts of fourth-degree aggravated assault for pointing a firearm at three other people, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.

On Nov. 11, 2012, Carl Batie, 26, attended a party at the Baldassari Regency banquet hall on Morris Avenue in Trenton. He was in a crowd of about 30 people on the restaurant’s balcony at 1:15 a.m. when Maurice Skillman, 27, allegedly opened fire on the crowd with Tucker at his side, prosecutors said.

One of the 22 bullets fired into the crowd struck Batie in the head, killing him almost instantly, officials have said.

Assistant Prosecutor Jim Scott yesterday offered Tucker a plea deal that would call for him to plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter and serve a 25-year sentence, of which he would have to serve 85 percent, or a little more than 21 years. Tucker also would have to cooperate in the case against Skillman, who faces the same charges, Scott said. Marquise Skillman, who is Maurice Skillman’s brother, identified Tucker as an accomplice in the shooting, Scott said.

“Mr. Marquise Skillman was familiar with Mr. Tucker,” Scott said.

Marquise Skillman also was seen in a video getting out of a car with Tucker and his brother outside Baldassari’s on the night of the incident, Scott said.

Batie, a Trenton Central High School graduate, was a five-year veteran of the Mercer County Corrections unit.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Juan R. Stevens, 51, was sentenced to five years in prison for impersonating a law enforcement officer to coerce prostitutes to have sex with him for free.

Juan StevensNJ Attorney General's Office 

Juan R. Stevens, 51, of Burlington Township, must serve two years before he is eligible for parole. He also forfeited his state job and is barred from future public employment in New Jersey.

When he pleaded guilty in October, Stevens admitted using equipment issued to him as a correction officer, including his badge, to impersonate a law enforcement officer and coerce the women.

“By abusing his badge to commit these abhorrent and offensive crimes, this correction officer proved that he has no business in our state prisons, except as a prisoner,” acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said in a news release.

An investigation conducted by the State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice found that between May 2011 and July 2012, Stevens forced four women to have sex with him by threatening to arrest them, the release said. One of the women was forced to meet with him three times, the release said.

“There is always an added danger when a law enforcement officer commits a crime and abuses the public trust he has been given,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice.

In February 2012 in Westampton, he agreed to pay for sex and then pulled out his badge, identified himself as a law enforcement officer, and led the woman to believe that he was conducting a prostitution sting, the release said. Stevens then fondled the woman and told her that they could work something out; they had sex and he left without paying, the release said.

In another incident in May 2011 in Mansfield, Stevens asked a woman if he could enter her motel room because he was a police officer investigating prostitution in the area, the release said. Once inside the room, Stevens ordered the woman to take her clothes off and coerced her into having sex, the release said. He then threw $15 at her and left.

“Everyone who proudly wears a uniform and a badge is glad to see justice being carried out for these cowardly acts of intimidation,” said Col. Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, in the release.

Stevens had been suspended without pay from his job at New Jersey Department of Corrections’ Central Reception and Assignment Facility in Trenton since his arrest on March 21, the release said.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

TRENTON — A former city employee and co-conspirator in the alleged parking garage conspiracy for which Trenton Mayor Tony Mack is on trial this week has pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about taking cash meant for Mack. Charles Hall III admitted on Tuesday in federal court he lied last month when he told an FBI agent he was...

TRENTON — A former city employee and co-conspirator in the alleged parking garage conspiracy for which Trenton Mayor Tony Mack is on trial this week has pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about taking cash meant for Mack.

Charles Hall III admitted on Tuesday in federal court he lied last month when he told an FBI agent he was given about $1,000 of the $10,000 payment meant for Mack that he handed off to Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni in June 2012, but concealed from the FBI that he accepted any of the cash.

On Dec 3, 2013, Hall admitted that he then told an FBI agent that Giorgianni actually gave him the cash, which he said he hid in furniture at Giorgianni’s house, which he later said was not true, either. Hall pleaded guilty, saying he actually kept the money, put it in his pocket and eventually spent it.

At the time Hall was already working for the FBI and was required to be truthful with anything related to his dealings with the government.

Hall, who was expected to be a witness in the case against Mack and his brother Ralphiel Mack as trial is set to start on Thursday, will face an additional five years in jail and a maximum fine of $250,000 for the charge of “making materially false and fictitious statements” to the FBI.

Hall signed the plea agreement on Dec. 18, 2013, but the hearing where he formally pleaded guilty did not take place until Tuesday. The hearing was before Judge Michael Shipp, who will preside over Mack’s trial.

Hall’s attorney Alan Bowman did not respond to a request for comment about the plea.

In December 2012, Hall pleaded guilty to extortion and drug charges, saying Mack conspired to extort bribe money from developers of the proposed parking garage.

During that hearing, Hall said he, Giorgianni and Ralphiel Mack were intermediaries or “buffers” to insulate the mayor from cash payments made in exchange for his action to facilitate the parking garage development. The alleged developers were actually informants working on the FBI-created sting operation.

Hall and Giorgianni were also charged in a separate drug ring where they are accused of illegally obtaining and selling prescription pain medication. Tony and Ralphiel Mack were not charged in the drug conspiracy.

During Hall’s initial plea hearing he admitted to handing off the $10,000 payment which he admitted he lied about. Hall, a Trenton Water Works employee assigned to the recreation department, also admitted that he steered city contract to specific firms in exchange for kickbacks.

Hall was the first to plead guilty in the case. Giorgianni pleaded guilty last month, saying he passed off money to Ralphiel Mack meant for Tony Mack. He admitted to two counts of extortion associated with the corruption case and one drug and one weapons charge yesterday from the separate narcotics case against him.

Attorneys for both Mack brothers have argued in court that Giorgianni was trying to set up Tony Mack and manipulated the scheme set up by the FBI. Robert Haney, the attorney for Ralphiel Mack, has said that Giorgianni is a known liar and would be a liability to put up on the witness stand because he would not tell the truth.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Robert Bartley, 23, is accused of shooting James Austin, 18, once in the chest following an argument over who should pay for a broken windshield on Bartley's friend's car.

TRENTON — Two Trenton men pleaded not guilty today to the Feb. 26 shooting death of the son of a retired Trenton police detective.

Robert Bartley, 23, is accused of shooting James Austin, 18, once in the chest following an argument over who should pay for a broken windshield on Bartley’s friend’s car.

Austin’s father, Luddie Austin, is a retired Trenton police veteran known for appearances on the A&E reality show “Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force.”

Earlier on the day of the shooting, Austin argued with Raheem Currie, 21, outside a home on East State Street, prosecutors said.

The argument turned into a fight and Currie threw a metal steering wheel lock through the rear windshield of Austin’s car, prosecutors said. Then Austin broke Currie’s windshield, prosecutors said.

Currie left and picked up Bartley, who, according to two other people who were in the car, told Currie he was going to “spray up the house” with bullets to scare Austin, prosecutors said in March.

The group drove back to the East State Street home, and Bartley went inside and shot Austin once in the chest, prosecutors said.

“There are multiple eyewitnesses and a confession,” Assistant Prosecutor Lew Korngut said. “The proofs are extremely strong.”

Although witnesses, both in the house and in the car, have said Bartley shot Austin while Currie remained in the car, both Bartley and Currie were indicted Nov. 1 on charges of murder, conspiracy, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

The long-awaited trial is expected to last four weeks, with two to three weeks for the government's testimony and another week for the defense to present its arguments.

TRENTON — The first witness is expected to take the stand tomorrow in the federal corruption trial of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack and his brother Ralphiel Mack, federal prosecutors said today.

The long-awaited trial is expected to last four weeks, with two to three weeks for the government’s testimony and another week for the defense to present its arguments.

Mack and his brother are alleged to have accepted bribe payments in exchange for Tony Mack’s official action to facilitate a parking garage development project in downtown Trenton.

The payments allegedly were funneled through Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni, a Mack campaign supporter, who pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme last month saying he was the “buffer” for Mack and handed payments to both the mayor and Ralphiel Mack. The development project was actually an FBI-created sting operation and the supposed developers were working for the government.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Skahill said today that the government will play a number of tapes into evidence from wiretaps and other recordings obtained by the FBI.

Skahill said there is a book full of transcripts from these recorded clips that the jury will be able to use to read along as the recordings are played.

Judge Michael Shipp partially denied the government’s request to add a handful of calls to the list regarding different schemes they were alleged to have known about.

Skahill argued the additional calls would further show the relationship among Giorgianni, Mack and Ralphiel Mack, and would show the brothers had knowledge of the system that was devised to get the cash payments and divide them up.

“We think it brings all the players in this case together,” Skahill said.

Tony Mack’s attorney, Mark Davis, and Robert Haney, Ralphiel Mack’s attorney, argued that because the brothers were not involved in the schemes or because they never worked out, the recordings regarding these other schemes should not be admitted.

“There is no proof or evidence whatsoever that Mr. Mack or Ralphiel Mack engaged in these acts themselves,” Davis said. “You can’t ask the jury to follow your stream of consciousness and infer that these are bad people. That is exactly what the government is doing.”

Among the calls Shipp said the government could not use were the recordings that included statements Giorgianni made to someone else about prior corrupt payments he secured for Tony Mack and another city official. Shipp also ruled against the government’s request to use tapes regarding an unsuccessful scheme to collect cash payments from Nedal and Isam Abuhumoud in exchange for Mack’s influence to have a code enforcement officer stop harassing the brothers about signs they had put up. The judge also said the government could not put forth evidence regarding a scheme to assign a power washing contract to a particular vendor in exchange for payments, as evidence that the Mack brothers had engaged in and criminal activity outside of the things for which they are charged.

Shipp’s rulings applied only to the recordings and do not prevent the government from presenting other evidence that it feels demonstrates that Mack and his brother knew about the other schemes.

Shipp reserved decision on evidence regarding a scheme to solicit money from city employees in exchange for them keeping their jobs or a scheme to assign a T-shirt contract to a particular vendor for a payment. Davis said tonight that Shipp will make his ruling on those matters if they come up in trial and the defense objects to the evidence being admitted.

The proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. with the jury being sworn in followed by opening statements.

The trial is taking place in the Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Courthouse in courtroom 5W.

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Police are searching for a man who robbed the PNC Bank on Abbington Drive in East Windsor today, officials said.

PNC Bank on Abbington Drive in East Windsor.Google Maps 

EAST WINDSOR — Police are searching for a man who robbed the PNC Bank on Abbington Drive in East Windsor today, officials said.

Just after 2 p.m. a man showed a bank teller at the location a note containing a demand for money and a threat to shoot her if she did not comply, bank personnel told police.

The man, who did not actually show a weapon, was given an unspecified sum of cash and left the bank, East Windsor police said in a news release.

Police described the suspect as a black male in his late 20s, weighing between 150 and 170 pounds with brown eyes and short black hair.

The man appeared unshaven and was wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, a red knit cap and black gloves, police said.

East Windsor police and the FBI are investigating the incident.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

Police blotter for Dec. 24 through Jan. 6.

File photo: A Hamilton police officer at a crime scene last year.Alex Zdan /The Times 

HAMILTON —

Dec. 23
Shoplifter — 400 block Marketplace Blvd. — Arrested Raheem Allen.
Shoplifter — 4400 block S. Broad St. — Arrested Deborah Ackerman.
Shoplifter — 600 block Route 130 — Arrested Jeffrey T. Stafford
Criminal Mischief — 1000 block S. Olden Ave.
Theft — Englewood Boulevard.
Theft — 2300 block S. Broad St.
Theft — 1200 block Whitehead/Mercerville Road
Theft — 200 block Youngs Road
Aggravated Assault — 2700 block Kuser Road

Dec. 24
Criminal Mischief — Grand Avenue
Theft — Annabelle Avenue
Theft — Sculptors Way
Burglary/Auto — Franklin and Hutchinson streets
Burglary — Dodge Drive
Shoplifter — 1000 block Whitehorse/Mercerville Road

Dec. 25
Criminal mischief — Mount Drive
Criminal mischief — 100 block Bradford Ave.
Criminal mischief — 100 block Julia Ave.
Burglary/auto — 400 block Redfern St.
Burglary — Lincoln Court

Dec. 26
Criminal mischief — 1800 block S. Broad St.
Criminal mischief — 2700 block S. Clinton Ave.
Criminal mischief — 1500 block Genesee St.
Theft/Auto — 200 block Edmund St.
Theft — 200 block Redfern St.
Theft — 2500 block E. State St.
Theft — 1500 block E. State St.
Burglary/Auto — 300 block Massachusetts Ave.
Burglary — 1600 block Hamilton Ave.
Shoplifter — 700 block Marketplace Blvd. Arrested Agnew Nyenkan.

Dec. 27
Theft/Auto — 100 block Norcross Ctr. — Arrested Otis Roberts.
Theft — Morgan Avenue - Arrested Eric Tanner.
Theft — 200 block Yardville/Allentown Road
Theft — 300 block Marketplace Blvd.
Burglary/Auto — Field Avenue

Dec. 28
Criminal mischief — 700 block E. Howell St.
Theft — Charlotte Avenue
Theft — 300 block Sloan Ave.
Burglary — 1100 block Nottingham Way
Shoplifter — 700 block Marketplace Blvd. — Arrested Nami Barnes.

Dec. 29
Criminal mischief — Kenwood Terr.
Theft/Auto — 100 block Washington Court
Theft — Diana Court
Burglary — 1600 block Genesee St.
Robbery — 1700 block Greenwood Ave.
Shoplifter — 200 block Rt. 33
Shoplifter — 2400 block S. Broad St.

Dec. 30
Criminal mischief — 2600 block Quakerbridge Road
Theft/Auto — 200 block Connecticut Ave.
Theft/Auto — 1400 block Nottingham Way
Theft — 3500 block S. Broad St.
Theft — 400 block E. Franklin St.
Burglary — 2000 block S. Broad St.
Shoplifter — 1000 block Whitehorse/Merc. Road - Arrested Christian A. Stokes.

Dec. 31
Criminal mischief — 200 block Hollywood Drive
Theft — 500 block Miller Ave.
Theft — 700 block Route 33
Shoplifter — 300 block Marketplace Blvd.

Jan. 1
Criminal mischief — Adella Ave.
Criminal mischief — 4900 block S. Broad St.
Criminal mischief — 100 block Lakeside Blvd.
Criminal mischief — 2500 block S. Broad St.
Criminal mischief — 100 block Hempstead Road
Criminal mischief — 4200 block S. Broad St.
Criminal mischief — 200 block Maddock Ave.
Criminal mischief — 100 block Stenton Court

Jan. 2
Criminal mischief — 2400 block S. Broad St.
Theft/Auto — 300 block Hobart Ave.
Theft — 1200 Route 33
Theft — Quakerbridge Plaza Drive
Burglary —100 block Sheridan Road
Shoplifter — 700 block Marketplace Blvd.

Jan. 3
Shoplifter — 1000 block Marketplace Blvd.
Shoplifter — 700 block Marketplace Blvd. — Arrested Milosz Labno.
Shoplifter — 700 block Marketplace Blvd. — Arrested Walter D. Wilcox.

Jan. 5
Criminal mischief — 1500 block Genesee St.
Theft — Brockton Road
Theft — 300 block Marketplace Blvd.
Burglary/Auto — 100 block Arlington Ave.
Shoplifter — 700 block Marketplace Blvd. — Arrested Janesha E. Nam/Pickett.

Jan. 6
Criminal mischief — 2700 block Quakerbridge Road
Theft/Auto — 900 block S. Olden Ave.
Theft/Auto — 100 block Andrew St.
Theft — Bradford Ave.
Burglary/Auto — 1100 block William St.

Editor’s Note: The police blotter printed in last week’s edition of Hamilton Plus provided incorrect information for incidents from Dec. 23 to 31 in Hamilton. The correct information is included in this week’s edition.

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter