The Roundup

A weekly tab of what’s going 

on in the courts.

By Logan Beck

For BigTrial.net

New Jersey Office of the Attorney General:

A family services worker was responsible for transporting and supervising court-ordered visits between a young mother and her son, according to Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino.

He allegedly used this position to have sex with the young mother in March and April 2016.

Lamont King, 39, of Trenton, N.J. is being charged with official misconduct and has been suspended without pay after an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau South Unit and the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.  

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what’s going on in the courts.

By Logan Beck

For BigTrial.net

U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey:

Sexual assault can happen anywhere at anytime as evidenced by current events, even in the most unlikely places . . . such as on an airplane.

A New York man faces charges after being accused of sexually abusing a woman on an airplane flying from Tel Aviv, Israel to New York according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

Yoel Oberlander, 35 was seated next to a woman and her mother on a plane on May 29. Oberlander allegedly placed his hands on the woman’s thighs and breasts without her consent, resulting in a criminal complaint with one count of abusive sexual contact.

However, this is not Oberlander’s first offense.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what’s going on in the courts

By Logan Beck

For BigTrial.Net

Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General:
Seven individuals from Carbon and Lehigh counties were charged with distributing extreme amounts of methamphetamine.

The head of the operation, Edilberto Ortiz Jr., of Allentown, was determined to be the main distributor as he gave the illicit drugs to six other dealers between January and March. The Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, the Carbon County Drug Task Force, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducted the investigation, using confidential informants and observations of methamphetamine purchases, leading to several court-approved search warrants.

After searching a residence where Ortiz was staying, more than four pounds of methamphetamine were taken from the premises, in addition to a .32 caliber handgun, various drug paraphernalia, and about $2,400 in cash.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's going 
on in the courts.

By Logan Beck 
For BigTrial.net

New Jersey Attorney General:

On June 2, a Las Vegas man admitted to a $5 million fraud scheme, pleading guilty in Newark Federal Court to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud. 

Lee Vaccaro, 44, of Las Vegas, Nevada served as the chief marketing officer and vice president of investor relations for a company based in California known as eAgency. Vaccaro used eAgency to sell investors interests in companies that he controlled.

Vaccaro, however, did not act alone.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's going

on in the courts.

By Logan Beck
For BigTrial.net

New Jersey Office of the Attorney General:

Jennifer Pizzuti, 32, of Jackson, New Jersey was indicted on charges of making a false government document, forgery, uttering a forged writing, uttering a false government document, and falsifying or tampering with records.

According to the Attorney General, in 2015 Pizzuti was informed by the Department of Health that she was unable to renew her 2-Year Nurse Aide Certification due to “outstanding issues that could disqualify her application.”

In order to be placed to work at multiple facilities that provide long-term and in-home care for elderly patients, she forged a Nurse Aide Certificate rather than taking the necessary steps to satisfy the requirements necessary for a legitimate certification.

While Pizzuti has not yet been convicted of these charges, she potentially faces between 18 months to 10 years in prison, and and between $10,000 to $150,000 in various fines.

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The Roundup

Joseph J. Talafous

A weekly tab of what's going on in the courts.

By Logan Beck For BigTrial.net
New Jersey Attorney General:
A New Jersey lawyer has been indicted with a laundry list of charges after it was discovered that he stole over $1 million from his clients between October 2004 and May 2015 through his attorney trust or business account. He has since been disbarred.
Joseph J. Talafous Jr., 53, of Tom’s River, NJ was indicted for collectively stealing $1,528,022 from a variety of different clients, including $402,418 from a trust fund for a young boy whose father had passed away, as well as from clients who had passed away themselves. Talafous faces multiple charges of money laundering, theft by unlawful taking, theft by failure to make required disposition of property, misapplication of entrusted property,  theft by deception, as well as filing fraudulent state income tax returns.

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The Roundup

Keith Smith 

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

Chester County District Attorney:
A Chester County man has been charged with murdering his girlfriend who recorded her  own death on her cell phone,  the District Attorney’s office disclosed on May 11th. 

On May 2, Keith Smith got into an argument with girlfriend Wesley Webb in their home in Schuylkill County. Three children under the age of 14 live at their home and were upstairs during the argument. Webb told Smith she was going to take the two children and leave the house. Smith then took his single-shot 12 gauge shotgun and shot Webb in the chest while she was seated in the living room. Smith turned the gun on himself and fired, but he did not succeed at killing himself. The children came down the steps after the shots and dialed 911.

Authorities say Webb’s phone was recording the audio of her killing and continued recording up until police arrived.


“Fuck you! How’s that. That’s where we just went,” Smith says on the recording after the shooting, according to authorities.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania:

The gold Ford Taurus is pictured in this surveillance video still

A jury acquitted a man of all charges related to a 2014 carjacking involved shooting. Terrance Munden was one of three men who were up against federal prosecutors of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney’s office.

In June 2014, pharmaceutical delivery man Ricardo Tuesta was making a stop at Wellness Pharmacy on Ridge Avenue. Surveillance video show two men in a gold Ford Taurus approach Tuesta’s vehicle. What was not shown on video was the altercation that ensued inside Tuesta’s van. During the melee, a gun went off and shot Tuesta in the hand, which caused him to lose a portion of his finger. Police arrested Charles Wardlaw who claimed the other men involved included Robert Hartley and Terrance Munden.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

Philadelphia District Attorney's Office:
What's going on with Philadelphia cops?

A Philadelphia Police Officer turned himself in after an investigation of a domestic incident, police announced April 28.

On March 6 around 4:10 a.m., Alex McAdams, 28, allegedly removed a screen from a side window of his girlfriend’s first floor apartment, broke the window, entered, and took a personal item before chasing her outside. McAdams has been arrested, and a District Attorney approved affidavit contains the following charges: burglary, criminal trespass, theft and criminal mischief. McAdams is a four year veteran of the force.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

Adam O'Donnell

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

Philadelphia District Attorney:
Another Philadelphia police detective is facing charges. Philadelphia police detective Adam O’Donnell was scheduled, 43,  for a preliminary hearing on April 22 after allegedly assaulting a man and breaking his leg while he was on-duty on Feb. 3, 2015, according to the District Attorney’s office. O’Donnell was escorting Theodore Life Jr., 45, outside of the Special Victims Unit headquarters building at 300 E. Hunting Park Ave and allegedly kicked him once in the knee. Life fell to the ground, and O’Donnell allegedly forced him into an unmarked police car and took him to a random location. The nine-year veteran of the force is charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, and official oppression.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

Philadelphia District Attorney:
A woman who literally inked her name on a voting machine is schedule for trial on April 12, according to the District Attorney’s office.

Authorities received a complaint that Oxana Turketsky, 64, had written her name in ink on the voting machine at the 6900 block of Summerdale Avenue at the 53rd Ward. “Oxana Turetsky” was handwritten on the machine next to the box for “write in” candidates, police confirmed. Turetsky later admitted to writing her name on the voting machine. is charged with tampering with records, criminal mischief and tampering with voting machines.

Turetsky’s charges were brought as part of the Election Fraud Task Force the DA’s office created in November 2014. The purpose of the force was to address voter concerns and investigate criminal activity during elections.
 

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

Philadelphia District Attorney:
 
Two former Philadelphia cops were scheduled for trial this week, according to the District Attorney’s office. Sean McKnight and Kevin Robinson are charged with aggravated assault, tampering with public records and other charges related to the beating of a man.

In May 2013, McKnight and Robinson pulled over Najee Rivera, 21, in Fairhill. In early 2015, Rivera’s girlfriend brought surveillance video to police that didn't line up with the officers’ accounts of the incident. In Rivera’s testimony, he acknowledged that he was driving his scooter the wrong way on North Sixth Street but didn’t know why the officers were pulling him over. Video shows the officers knocking Rivera off the scooter from the patrol car. The officers then got out of the police car and “threw elbows” at Rivera, striking his face on a brick wall. Rivera suffered broken eye-socket bone and stitches to numerous facial cuts.

After the incident, Rivera lost his job at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, which the city agreed to settle for $200,000. Rivera died Dec. 20, 15 days after he was shot in a street fight at C and Somerset Streets in Kensington. The jury has not reached a verdict, and deliberations will continue Monday.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

Christopher Haas

A Villanova professor has been charged with possession of hundreds of child pornography images, according to Radnor Township police.

Christopher Haas, 60, an Associate Professor of History and Classical Studies, was charged with 415 counts of sexual child abuse. David Tedjeske, Villanova Director of Public Safety, says the university monitors its networks for illegal and suspicious activity and that is how they were alerted of Haas' activity, 6abc reports.

“A faculty member in the history and classical studies department accessed child pornography from a computer in the common area of an office in the Saint Augustine Center in the center of campus,” Tedjeske said.

Homeland Security had been conducting an ongoing investigation since 2012 after receiving information that Haas’ was accessing on child porn on his home computer. Haas' arraignment is scheduled for April 27.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
for BigTrial.net

 District Attorney of Philadelphia:
 

Daniel Dougherty

Seventeen years ago, Daniel Dougherty was sentenced to death for setting his home on fire that killed his 3-year-old and 4-year-old sons in 1985. On March 21, a retrial of the case began after Dougherty, 56, won his appeal. Dougherty has proclaimed his innocence since his estranged wife Adrienne Sussman came to authorities 14 years after the fire insisting he had admitted to arson. In his past testimony, Dougherty denied deliberately setting fires and claimed he was the failed hero that could not save his sons’ lives. But since the original trial, two arson investigators have reexamined the evidence and found no conclusive indicators of arson, according to CNN.

Philly.com's Jeff Gammage covered the trial on March 23. Gammage reported that Assistant District Attorney Jude Conroy insisted that there's no doubt that Dougherty intentionally set the fire. Defense lawyer David Fryman stated that if Dougherty was truly guilty of this crime, it would have surfaced before Sussman came to police. Sussman did not testify at the original trial. She, along with Dougherty's trial lawyer Thomas Ciccone, and other witnesses are deceased.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

Philadelphia District Attorney:

Joyce Levitt

Joyce Levitt is charged with theft, fraud, and related charges for embezzled $200,000 from Visit Philadelphia after she turned herself in on March 16, the District Attorney’s office announced. Levitt, 61, had been overseeing the finances for seven years of Chief Financial Officer of Visit Philadelphia, a tourism agency that promotes travel in and around the city. VP receives 18 percent of hotel tax, so Levitt stole taxpayer dollars. Philadelphia taxpayers, want to know where your money was going? You were funding Levitt’s skin treatments, quenching her palette at high-end restaurant meals, taking her shopping at BJ’s and Costco and keeping her warm with fur from New York. The investigation began in August 2014. A date for a preliminary hearing not yet been scheduled.

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The Roundup

Steven Montgomery

A weekly tab of what's
going on in the courts

By Shealyn Kilroy
For BigTrial.net

New Jersey Attorney General:
A Newark man who was shot by state troopers pleaded guilty on March 4 to carjacking and armed robbery in connection with a February 2015 crime spree, according to the Attorney General’s office. On Feb. 9, 2015, Steven Montgomery was spotted driving in a carjacked minivan by, as the release states, “Officers 1, 2, 3, and 4.” The minivan was reported stolen earlier that morning, and the owner was threatened with a gun. Driving in front of the minivan, Officers 1 and 2 used their police vehicle in efforts to stop the vehicle on South 20th Street. Officer 1 exited the front passenger seat of Officer 2’s vehicle and drew his service weapon while announcing himself as a law enforcement officer and instructing the driver of the silver minivan to stop. Montgomery proceeded to drive onto the curb towards Officer 1 and believed to be reaching for a weapon by the dashboard, according to the officers. Officer 1 shot Montgomery twice, striking Montgomery in the shoulder and wrist and causing non-fatal injuries. A chase ensued after the first two shots were fired.

 According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, all four officers’ statements given to law enforcement were consistent with Officer 1, and therefore, did not raise any suspicion. The Division of Criminal Justice concluded that Officer 1 “used an acceptable level of force” that was “necessary to prevent the escape of an individual who had recently committed several violent crimes using a firearm.” So, Montgomery was charged and may face a up to 18 years in state prison, including more than 15 years of parole ineligibility.

Should the police officers be identified? The full, detailed release can be found here.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab on what's going on in the courts.
By Shealyn Kilroy
for BigTrial.net

It takes two to make a thing go right. Or wrong, according to court.
Each case in this week’s roundup didn’t make it to trial through the work of just one individual.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab on what's going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy

for BigTrial.net

New Jersey Attorney General:

Jayme Shannon
Bergen County Sheriff

Ex-NYPD officer and registered sex offender Jayme Shannon, 53, of East Windsor was sentenced on Feb. 16 to over 20 years in prison for human trafficking charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Shannon and the 15-year-old victim met on chatavenue.com in September 2013. An arrangement was made to meet at Skyview Motel in New Jersey, and Shannon drove to New York to bring the victim back to the hotel. On Oct. 14, 2013, Shannon engaged in sexual activity with the victim and was later found by Fort Lee police at the motel. Shannon pleaded guilty to an information charging him with interstate transportation of a minor for illicit purposes and doing so while being a registered sex offender.

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The Roundup

Joemygod.com

A weekly tab on what's going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy
for BigTrial.net

Infamous gay-basher Kathryn Knott caught local and national attention from the media this week
for her Feb. 8 sentencing. Knott, from Bucks Country, will face 5 to 10 months in prison, followed by two years of reporting probation, in addition to paying $2000 in fines on Feb. 8 for her role in the Sept. 11, 2014 attack on 16th and Chancellor Streets.

If Knott’s name never showed up in mainstream media, who knows if it would have shown up in the courts. As daughter of police chief Karl Knott, Kathryn apparently possessed the “my daddy’s a cop, I can get away with anything” mentality. She was convicted of misdemeanors, no felonies. It’s fair to question whether Knott would have been charged at all if this case wasn’t spotlighted.

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The Roundup

A weekly tab on what's going on in the courts.

By Shealyn Kilroy

                                                                          (AP/Matt Rourke)

for BigTrial.net

Chaka “Chip” Fattah Jr.’s sentencing to 5 years in prison for tax and bank fraud along with the ruling for Bill Cosby’s continuance of his sexual-assault charges were this week’s most talked about courtroom dramas. To read the release right out of the U.S. Attorney’s office about Chip’s sentencing, click here.

But while everyone was tuned in to the Cosby and Chip spectacles, there were some other stories worth noting in local courts. 

Eli the Horse
(Courtesy Stables) 

Philadelphia District Attorney:

Last week’s roundup mentioned a scheduled trial appearance of retired Philly officer Walter Sasse, 77, who was charged with having sexual relations with a minor. On Jan 29., Sasse was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minor and other related offenses. A mental health evaluation and sexual offender assessment has been ordered. Sentencing is scheduled for May 6, according to the District Attorney’s office.

Before trial, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright ordered Sasse not to ride with females under the age of 18. However, Judge Bright told Sasse he was “permitted to ride his horse Eli from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sundays.”