The 45-year-old man told investors they would reap significant profits but then used the money for personal expenses and to pay other investors, authorities say.

NEWARK -- A North Caldwell man admitted he defrauded investors out of more than $550,000, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced Tuesday.

Michael Esposito, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini. Authorities say Esposito was the president of several entities from 2013-17 that allegedly purchased products like soda and bottled water in bulk and resold them to retailers. 

Esposito admitted he told investors he could get the products at a discount and had buyers lined up. But authorities said Esposito did not use the money to purchase products and instead spent it on personal expenses and to pay other investors. 

Esposito is scheduled to be sentenced July 20. He faces maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

A call to Esposito's attorney, Brooke Barnett, was not immediately returned. 

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. 

The 48-year-old man pleaded guilty to wire fraud and admitted he defrauded investors through his trading company, authorities said.

NEWARK -- A Short Hills man who ran a trading company admitted he defrauded investors of more than $675,000 and used that money for himself, authorities said Tuesday. 

Mark Moskowitz, 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden to one charge of wire fraud, admitting he fraudulently used investment money for his personal use. 

Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick said Moskowitz created his company, Edge Trading, in 2012. Moskowitz told investors that the company invested in equities and contracts and was growing even though it was not, authorities said. Fitzpatrick said Moskowitz misled investors, hid losses from them and redirected their money for his personal expense. 

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities also separately fined Moskowitz and his company $1 million in civil penalties for selling unregistered fraudulent securities and misusing investors' funds.

Moskowitz will be sentenced July 5. He could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

A call to Moskowitz's defense attorney was not immediately returned. 

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. 

An appellate court decision upheld a 2015 administrative law decision.

EAST ORANGE -- The city's police department was right in firing an officer who supervisors said visited a bar while in uniform and on duty, falsified patrol logs, drove a police car while her license was suspended, and took more than 100 unexcused sick days in a year, according to an appellate decision released Tuesday.

The officer, Tamieka Dwyer, was appealing a 2015 Civil Service Commission ruling that upheld the city police department's decision to fire her. A superior court appellate decision Tuesday affirmed that ruling.

Man killed in East Orange shooting

"Our review convinces us that the decision ... is supported by sufficient credible evidence ... (and) termination was justified," the judges wrote in Tuesday's decision.

According to the ruling, though Dwyer admitted taking more than 105 sick days in 2011, she argued that the department did not outline its excessive sick leave policy effectively.

She also admitted going to a bar in Orange while on patrol, but said she only went in to use the restroom, and then heated her lunch there. Altogether, Dwyer said, she was there for about 12 minutes. The court agreed with the department's assertion that Dwyer should have used a bathroom at a nearby open gas station in East Orange instead of crossing municipal lines and going into a bar, both violations of department rules.

The department alleged Dwyer falsified her call logs after the police chief reported seeing Dwyer sitting in her car while she was supposed to be responding to a theft at a different location - a claim backed up the geo-locating technology in her squad car. The officer said the GPS in her car was malfunctioning, and didn't properly record her location. The court said it did not find Dwyer's testimony credible. 

The court also agreed with the department in a dispute over Dwyer driving a police car while her license was suspended. She argued she initially didn't know it was suspended - a result of a ticket her son got in the car, she said - and then thought it had been restored after she made an online payment, but didn't get confirmation of its restoration.

A spokeswoman for the city did not respond to a request for comment on the decision.

Steven Kaflowitz, the attorney who represented Dwyer, said he was "disappointed by the decision," but likely would not petition the state Supreme Court over it. He was not certain whether or not Dwyer, who was also part of a 2013 class action suit against the department seeking unpaid overtime, is currently working elsewhere as a police officer.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Xenophobia, locked and loaded. Watch video

President Trump has declared war against sanctuary cities on the premise that they harbor colonies of bad hombres. So he wants to deprive them of the money their cops need to protect those cities.

Spot the contradiction, win valuable prizes.

This is yet another crusade based on a lie, which is the case with many policy tripwires this administration lays down, whether it's imploding Obamacare or a welcome rebirth of coal.

But this one is especially malignant: He sent out Attorney General Jeff Sessions Monday to announce that the administration will withhold federal funds from cities that don't share the immigrant status of individuals with the Immigration and Naturalization Service if requested. The announcement cited bogus polls, and depicted immigrants as criminals and sanctuary cities as cesspools of crime.

And with his nativist ideology locked and loaded, he vowed that less compliant cities would feel Trump's fiscal wrath.

Sessions said he's only following the policy the Obama Administration had enacted for this fiscal year, but that hardly makes it right. It feels more like an expression of Trump's xenophobia, and it ignores the reality on the ground.

Top cops to Trump: Sanctuary cities make us safer | Editorial

Local cops don't want the job of enforcing federal immigration laws; they often rely on immigrants in their communities to come forward and report crimes. Still, they cooperate with the feds every day on crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants. They target bad guys. They use resources from the feds to stop them.

And they know that public safety depends on the trust they have in the community.

The term "sanctuary city" has no strict definition, but typically, they are places where non-citizens are often released after their case is closed. If ICE issues a detainer - a request to be notified upon that release - compliance is voluntary. Some agencies hold inmates eligible for deportation for up to 48 hours beyond what is mandated by criminal courts, so ICE can take custody. Beyond 48 hours, the locals are not obligated to hold the detainee.

N.J. lawmakers should stand up to Christie and Trump | Editorial

Now Trump seeks to compel a different level of cooperation by threatening purse strings.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka expects chaos: "Taking away desperately needed aid for hiring more police officers, providing up-to-date technology to reduce crime, and encouraging initiatives to build trust and transparency (with) citizens they are sworn to protect is sure to make cities more dangerous," he said.

It's double-jeopardy for the cops - not only does it deprive them of resources, it undermines their authority in the community.

Legal experts call Trump's order a loser, citing precedents that prevent the federal government from "broadly cutting off funding to states and cities just because they have lawfully acted to protect immigrant families," as New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman put it.

So on flimsy legal footing, the dance of the demagogue begins anew.

Trump's party often rails against federalizing anything, especially law enforcement. Now it's fine. To rationalize this, one must believe that the best judge of community policing is not the local cop, but a president who criminalizes immigrants and a U.S. attorney general who has spent his career disenfranchising minorities.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

Jurors are deliberating in the case of Basim Henry, one of four men charged with murder, felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy and other offenses in the death of Dustin Friedland. Watch video

NEWARK -- The attorney for one of four men charged in a fatal 2013 carjacking at The Mall at Short Hills told an Essex County jury Tuesday that while a video confession represented the facts of his client's involvement in the carjacking, he couldn't be held responsible for the victim's killing.

In closing arguments, Basim Henry's attorney Michael Rubas said that Henry never intended for Dustin Friedland to die, arguing the lead homicide detective on the case said as much during Henry's taped post-arrest interview with investigators.

"'You did not expect him to die,'" Rubas said, quoting Sgt. Luigi Corino of the Essex County Homicide Task Force. 

Jurors began deliberating late Tuesday afternoon in the sixth day of Henry's trial before Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin in connection with the Dec. 15, 2013 carjacking that led to the fatal shooting of Friedland, 30, of Hoboken.

Friedland, who had been shopping at the mall with his wife, was shot during a struggle with two men during the theft of the vehicle the couple had driven to the mall -- a Range Rover owned by Friedland's father.

Henry, 36, of South Orange, was indicted on six counts in Friedland's death: carjacking, conspiracy to commit carjacking, felony murder, knowing or purposeful murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

Henry's co-defendants -- Hanif Thompson, Kevin Roberts and Karif Ford -- are set to be tried separately in the case, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

In his statement to investigators, just hours after his arrest on Dec. 21, 2013 at a motel in Easton, Pa., Henry admitted driving the men to the upscale mall in Millburn with the intent to steal a vehicle.

Prosecutors have alleged Thompson and Roberts were responsible for physically taking the Range Rover, and that Thompson was the person who shot Friedland. Henry told investigators Ford was with him in his GMC Suburban throughout the incident.

While conceding his client's involvement in the carjacking, Rubas -- who called no witnesses during the trial -- asked the jury to return not-guilty verdicts on the charges of murder, felony murder and the weapons offenses, arguing that Henry was never in possession of the gun used to kill Friedland.

"Mr. Henry did not pull the trigger of the gun that killed Dustin Friedland," he said.

But while authorities allege that Thompson was the one who pulled the trigger, Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Amirata argued Henry "agreed, aided and made this crime happen" as an accomplice and conspirator.

Short Hills mall trial: What you need to know

Henry had admitted to investigators that he saw Thompson with a gun at a liquor store prior to the carjacking, and knew his co-conspirators intended to take a vehicle by force, Amirata told the jury.

"You don't bring a gun when you can use a credit card," Amirata said, arguing Henry, the admitted driver of the conspirators, was effectively in control of the gun. "Obviously, a gun is a deadly weapon."

Deliberations are scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The rankings are based on 35 factors that measure quality of life and the percent of the population that lives to 75 and older.

An investigation into sexual abuse accusations against a former Pingry School teacher also turned up complaints against two others from that era.

A popular teacher and Boy Scout leader at a prestigious prep school is believed to have abused at least 27 boys over six years in the mid 1970s, according to an inquiry by an investigative firm commissioned by the Pingry School.

The investigation also revealed alleged sexual misconduct by two other teachers, including a music teacher who taught at the school for 46 years.

The Pingry School's report, released publicly late Tuesday, states Thad "Ted" Alton allegedly preyed on preteen boys in his class, as well as his Boy Scout troop, during his time at the school's Short Hills campus from 1972-78. The victims allege abuse that was unrelenting, with some claiming they were assaulted anywhere from 25 to 100 times.

The report comes almost a year to the day after Pingry first informed its alumni  that officials had learned of accusations by former students against Alton.

"We are devastated by these findings and the reality that these abuses were, for decades, weighing on the survivors without our awareness our our action," said Nathaniel Conard, headmaster, and Jeffrey Edwards, chair of the board of trustees, in an open letter to the Pingry community on the school's website, PingryResponse.org.

The report found no reason to believe that Pingry officials were aware of the alleged abuse at the time, except for one board member who heard about Alton's behavior, but never officially reported it.

Some of Alton's coworkers said he appeared to act in unusual ways around some of the students, including meetings with them in his locked office. But they never spoke up. Their silence was "particularly troubling," the letter said.

"For all of these reasons, we want to extend a profound apology to our community," the letter said.

Alton, 70, is now self-employed, writes curriculum for prisoners, and lives in Lower Manhattan, where he registered as as sex offender because of a 1990 conviction for deviate sexual misconduct in upstate New York. His Morristown attorney. Marcy McMann, declined to comment on the report.

The report, written by T&M Protection Resources, a New York private investigating firm, paints a picture of a small school at which several teachers targeted boys for sexual gratification.

The two other teachers named include Woodshop instructor Bruce Bohrer, who taught at the school's Short Hills Campus between 1974 and 1991. He allegedly sexually abused at least three 10- and 11-year-old boys and engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with at least one 11-year-old boy, between 1978 and 1979, according to the report.

Bohrer told investigators "he would never do anything like that," the report stated. Bohrer could not be reached for comment.

Antoine du Bourg, a longtime science and music instructor, was purported to have engaged in "harassing behavior" and to have had "inappropriate physical contact" with multiple students. He taught the older grades at Pingry for 46 years, retiring in 2002. He died in 2011 at the age of 82. Relatives could not be reached for comment.

The report detailed episodes in which the teachers from that era behaved with seeming impunity:

• Alton's alleged sexual interactions occurred not only throughout the Short Hills school, the report detailed, but at the home of his in-laws, his own school-owned home at times when his wife and children were in the residence, his home in Chatham, the home of a former student, on Boy Scout camping trips, his summer home in Martha's Vineyard, his truck, and at Camp Waganaki, the Maine summer camp frequented by Pingry students and faculty.
• Bohrer's alleged behavior was brazen, one former student told investigators. The man claimed there was an incident where children were standing at waist-high tables doing school projects during class when Bohrer approached him from behind, unzipped the boy's pants, fondled him, and would "then zip it back up and go on with the day."
• Du Bourg reportedly took students to his home, or on sailing trips, where one man told investigators the teacher shared his bed with a "prepubescent boy," hugging and kissing him in front of the man, at that time an older teen of 15 or 16.

The report also said investigators heard stories about sexual misconduct by other faculty members, but they were not included in the document because they could not be corroborated.

Teachers from the school told investigators Alton's actions gave them a vague sense of unease because he seemed "too close" to his students and Scout members - but they felt they had no hard evidence to lodge any complaint about him.

The private investigators interviewed 74 people from the Pingry community. Alton was contacted but declined, through his attorney, to speak with them.

Many of the alleged victims have retained a Portland, Oregon, law firm that specializes in holding schools and churches accountable for child abuse that took place within their institutions.

The law firm, Crew Janci, said Tuesday it now has 18 former students interested in pursuing some sort of legal action against the school. They come from 12 states and one Canadian province. No lawsuit has been filed yet.

The group, calling themselves the Pingry Survivors, released a statement Tuesday in response to the report.

"Ted Alton was able to keep up his illegal and harmful behavior because of a culture that allowed for concealing and ignoring this damaging abuse. It's important to recognize this and change the system that allowed the abuse to occur and to continue over many years," the group said.

"While the details are disturbing and painful to hear, we hope that exposing the truth at The Pingry School will serve as the first step in the healing process -- for ourselves and for the entire Pingry community. We remain hopeful we can work with the school to address what happened in the past and to ensure a safe environment at Pingry in the future."

The report said Alton's alleged victims were 10-to-12-year-old boys, and he was omnipresent in their lives. He taught, ran a Boy Scout troop, ran a "washtub band," babysat them, and hired them as babysitters for his own young children. (He was married at the time.)

Alton left Pingry at the close of the 1977-78 school year, moving just a few miles to the west to teach at The Peck School in Morristown. He taught there just one year.

Investigators say there is no reason to believe Alton left Pingry under any kind of cloud; he went to Peck with good references from Pingry. After teaching there just a year, however, word allegedly reached Peck officials of parental concerns that had come to light within the Pingry community about Alton.

Alton was immediately fired from Peck. The concerns were reported to authorities, although the report does not specify who did that. Alton was charged in 1979 and pleaded guilty to six charges stemming from an episode of strip poker and fondling with his Scouts.

He received a suspended sentence and five years' probation, with the court concluding he'd acted on a "transient situational disturbance."

Thad "Ted" Alton's 2017 photo for the New York State website listing registered sex offenders.Kathleen O'Brien | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com 

Around the time his actions came to light, in the summer of 1979, the report said, a group of Pingry parents of boys in Alton's Scout troop held a meeting in which they discussed the situation. Some of the attendees recalled a psychiatrist there advised them it would best for the children to avoid any court proceedings. "It was detrimental to take them into a courtroom," one parent recalled being told.

The report said many of the parents asked their sons if they'd been abused by Alton. All but one denied it - even though many subsequently told investigators they were in fact abused.

"I was so ashamed and scared I couldn't say no fast enough," one victim told investigators.

"The way I dealt with it was to pretend like it never happened," said another victim. "That was my way, I guess, of trying to move beyond it as much as a 13-year-old kid could."

Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.  

Customers helped police subdue armed robber after shooting.

NEWARK -- A man who shot a Newark police officer as the veteran cop helped thwart a store robbery was sentenced to more than 40 years in state prison, officials said Tuesday.

Donald Easterling (Photo: ECPO) 

Donald Easterling, 30, must serve 85 percent of his 45 year sentence before he is eligible for parole, according to an Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman. An Essex County jury in December found Easterling guilty of aggravated assault, robbery and weapons offenses in the July 30, 2014 holdup and shooting that wounded then-Newark police officer Dennis Dominguez.

Though Dominguez escaped life-threatening injuries, the shooting ended the officer's 19-year career with the city department, prosecutors said. Armed with a handgun and using extended magazine, Easterling robbed 99 Cent Zone on Clinton Avenue in the South Ward.

Two employees managed to escape the store and closed a magnetic lock, trapping the gunman inside the shop with its owner and two customers, according to prosecutors. The fleeing workers flagged down an officer nearby.

'Selfless' cop thanked by suspect after frigid river rescue (VIDEO)

The first officer at the scene spotted Easterling leave the store with a bag of stolen goods and a gun, authorities said. Easterling pointed a gun at the officer, who fired two rounds at the robber, hitting him once.

Dominguez rushed to help his fellow officers at the scene before Easterling shot him in the knee, according to authorities, who added Easterling suffered a minor wound in the shootout and was captured.

James Stewart Jr., president of the Newark Fraternal Order of Police, said the judge sent "a strong message to those that wish to terrorize the community and we applaud her for it."

"Mr. Easterling is a convicted criminal who shot a police officer who was simply responding to a call for help, coming to the aid of citizens being robbed," Stewart said.

In a July 2014 interview, one of the store owners said police likely prevented a far more violent encounter and credited officers with saving lives. Three people in the store helped police subdue the assailant.

"We just attacked him," 99 Cent Zone co-owner James Harris previously told NJ Advance Media. "The guys inside just jumped on him. They did what they had to do for [the officers]."

Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Shaughnessy handled the case. 

"All the officers should be commended for their heroic actions that day in their continued pursuit of the armed suspect in defense of the occupants of the store," Shaughnessy said after the conviction.

Records show Easterling had prior convictions for robbery and weapons offenses before the shooting.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Man reportedly said he wanted to jump from bridge.

NEWARK -- A man hanging off the Bridge Street bridge was rescued by Newark emergency responders Wednesday morning after he said he would jump from the crossing, authorities confirmed.

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose credited the city police division's Emergency Services Unit, firefighters and emergency medical crews for coordinating during the rescue.

Police received a 911 call around 5:30 a.m. from a passerby who said the man threatened to jump from the bridge over the Passaic River.

Members of the police ESU team initially spoke to the man on the ledge, trying to convince him to come to safety. A Newark fire division boat was positioned near the bridge. Another responder in a harness was also lowered from the bridge.

'Selfless' cop thanked by suspect after frigid river rescue (VIDEO)

Emergency medical crews brought the man to University Hospital for evaluation, Ambrose added.

Roads in the area were reopened around 7 a.m. after the dramatic rescue.

"I commend members of the Emergency Services Unit and Fire Division for their quick action and skills in preserving lives," Ambrose said in a statement late Wednesday morning. "Today's rescue showed great coordination by police, fire and EMS." 

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A look at the 20 best teams in New Jersey ahead of the 2017 season.

NJ.com's 2017 boys lacrosse season preview

Preseason is well underway in boys lacrosse, with opening day just over a week away.

NJ Advance Media will be rolling out statewide previews over the next week, leading up to March 29, Opening Day, so be sure to check back often.

Be sure to follow boys lacrosse reporters Brian Deakyne (@BrianDeakyne) and Brandon Gould (@BrandonGouldHS) for news and updates throughout the season.

PRESEASON NEWS
• Preseason Top 20
• Divisional alignments for each conference
• Dates to keep

PLUS: Meet the 19 N.J. products on the national No. 1 Rutgers men's lax team

PLAYERS TO WATCH

• Attackmen to watch

• Midfielders to watch

• Defenders to watch

• Goalies to watch

• Player of the Year watchlist

• Preseason All-State outlook

• 3 players named Preseason All-Americans

TEAMS TO WATCH

• Group 4

• Group 3

• Group 2

• Group 1

• Non-Public A

• Non-Public B

TEAM PREVIEWS
(check back every day for more teams added to the list)
• Allentown
• Bergen Catholic
• Bernards
• Bridgewater-Raritan
• Chatham
• Delaware Valley
• Delbarton
• Hopewell Valley
• Hunterdon Central
• Lenape
• Montgomery 
• Moorestown
• Mountain Lakes 
• Northern Burlington
• North Hunterdon
• Notre Dame
• Pingry
• Princeton
• Ramapo 
• Ridge
• Ridgewood
• Seton Hall Prep
• Sparta
• St. Augustine
• Summit
• Voorhees
• Westfield
• West Morris
• West Windsor-Plainsboro North

Brian Deakyne may be reached at bdeakyne@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianDeakyne. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.

Headlined by an Olympic hurdler, a national record holder in the throws and a potential four-time MoC winner in the mile, this list features some of the best to ever rep the Garden State.

Exposing our communities even to a single violent crime that could have been prevented from a stronger risk assessment or enhanced supervision is one crime too many.

By Anibal Ramos Jr.  

Last month, a Newark policeman risked his life when he jumped into the frigid Passaic River to rescue a man who was trying to escape capture.

The man was driving a stolen minivan in the North Ward of Newark. When police tried to pull Amir Sinclair Copeland over, he sped off, leading police to McCarter Highway, where he was finally stopped. Rather than face arrest, the 24-year old man jumped into the river.

Just three days earlier, Copeland was arrested in Union for possession of a stolen car. Until this year, he would have had to post considerable bail before he was let back out on the street.

But because of a new bail reform law in New Jersey that took effect in January, Copeland did not have to post any bail and was set free almost immediately to menace our community.

What happened with Copeland is not an exception, but is becoming increasingly common in Newark and across the state.

Over the first two months of the law being enacted, the public has witnessed multiple cases in which high-risk defendants across New Jersey were released, including a "convicted sex offender accused of trying to solicit sexual favors from a 12-year-old girl"; a man arrested twice in three days for breaking into two Middlesex County businesses, as well as a man arrested twice in three weeks, first for a gun charge and then for aggravated assault.

Last month in Newark, a man who was charged with possession and distribution of Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS) near a public park and on school property was rearrested 11 days later for possession and distribution of heroin, among other drugs. Another man was arrested three times within eight days for burglarizing a church in the East Ward.

Despite all these examples, and surely more to come, I am not opposed to bail reform.

In New Jersey, bail reform was long overdue. It is encouraging to see leaders in Trenton from both sides of the political aisle collaborating and responding with action.

The new law, the Bail Reform and Speed Trial Act, replaces cash bail with "a computer-based risk automated risk assessment, known as the Public Safety Assessment". Judges now utilize the assessment to determine whether to hold a defendant in jail until trial.

The reform offers a promising solution to combat implicit bias and inequality, which persists throughout our nation's criminal justice system. The reforms address the paralyzing effects that imprisonment can have on low-income families and minorities.

This is a step in the right direction, especially for defendants who clearly present a low-risk of failing to appear in court, committing another offense or committing a violent offense. The law also makes it easier to prevent dangerous criminals from paying their way out of jail by holding them without bail.

However, the law contains a variety of loopholes that must be immediately addressed. Evidence shows that risk assessment is failing. For example, the risk assessment does not take pending cases into consideration. A person may show a low number of convictions, but have several pending arrests.

It is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the assessment's algorithm and other tools that are being utilized to assess a defendant's risk level.

It is also important to invest in a comprehensive training program for pretrial services employees that will better equip them to use these assessment tools effectively. Enhanced training will give pretrial services employees the resources they need to better determine risk level and ensure that individuals who are a safety threat are not released before trial. Increased investment in strong supervision and monitoring procedures is another essential component of the new bail reform legislation.

Having worked to reform the Essex County Juvenile Justice program for the last 13 years, I have seen firsthand that increased supervision and proactive correctional procedures have reduced the number of juveniles in detention and the same is possible for adults.

The reality is that under our state's current bail reform laws, our communities will see an increase in the number of defendants released before trial. Exposing our communities even to a single violent crime that could have been prevented from a stronger risk assessment or enhanced supervision is one crime too many.

New Jersey has already witnessed multiple high-risk defendants like Amir Sinclair Copeland released under the bail reform law in its first two months of operation, making the need for adjustments to the law even more urgent.

The safety of our children and our communities is at stake, and I urge our legislators to come together to enact swift revisions to address these loopholes.

Anibal Ramos Jr. is a councilman from the North Ward in Newark serving his third term.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

Who are the best softball pitchers in New Jersey?

Two people were elected to the Orange Board of Education, to positions that are being challenged in court.

(Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

ORANGE -- The results of a contested school board vote were decided by a small group of voters Tuesday, who waded through a snow delay and a lingering lawsuit  to go to the polls.

According to unofficial results from the Essex County Clerk's Office, about 600 people turned out to vote on the 19 candidates running for two new, unexpired seats on the Orange Board of Education. With 177 votes, Derrick Henry won the 8-month term, and with 160 votes, Tyrone Tarver was elected to the 1 year 8 month term, the unofficial results show.

A special election for both positions was called earlier this year after residents voted overwhelmingly last November to switch the city's school board from one appointed by the mayor to one elected by the people.

The current, appointed board, has challenged the vote, arguing the language used on the referendum ballot last year was inappropriate because it lacked an explanation of all of the implications of switching the board - a claim the city council, which drafted the language, has vehemently denied.

As the fate of the election results hangs on a superior court case over the dispute scheduled to be heard next month, Mother Nature also got involved, when a snowstorm March 14 delayed the original date of the special election.

Why FBI's Orange raid was a long time coming

"I'm thankful," Henry said in a phone interview Wednesday about the vote. Henry said he and Tarver, who ran together, spent much of their campaigning time advocating in support of the referendum vote.

The results of the election will not be certified until after the validity of the referendum is decided in court. Still, Henry said he is "guardedly optimistic" that he will get to stay on the board.

Tarver agreed, saying he has "a very positive outlook on what's to come."

"Two down, seven to go," Henry said, referring to the remaining seven appointed members of the board who would be replaced by elected members if the referendum is upheld in court.

The Orange vote was one of a handful of votes across the state postponed by the snowstorm.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Radu Bogdan Marin, 36, of Glendale, N.Y., was part of a ring that used stolen account information to create counterfeit debit cars and withdraw $428,000 from ATMs

Federal prosecutors in Newark said a man admitted withdrawing $39,140 from ATMs using counterfeit debit cards Star-Ledger file photo 

NEWARK -- A New York man on Monday admitted conspiring with others to withdraw $428,000 in cash from automatic teller machines using counterfeit debit cards created with stolen account information, federal prosecutors announced.

Radu Bogdan Marin, 36, a Romanian citizen living in Glendale, N.Y., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Newark to a single count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Marin, who faces up to 30 years in prison upon sentencing, was one of 13 defendants in the case, and the first to enter a guilty plea. 

The acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, William E. Fitzpatrick, announced the plea Marin in a joint statement with Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco and Special Agent in Charge Terence S. Opiola of the Newark Division of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's Homeland Security Investigations.

Prosecutors said Marin and his co-conspirators stole account information using secret card-reading devices and pinhole cameras on PNC Bank and Bank of America ATMs, and withdrew at least $428,581 in cash.

Prosecutors said Marin alone withdrew $39,140 in cash bewteen March 2015 and July 2016.

He faces up to 30 years in prison and a million-dollar fine when sentenced on July 17 by Judge Esther Salas.

The investigation involved a variety of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions, including the U.S. Secret Service's Boston Field Office, and the Longmeadow, Cambridge and Medford, MA, Police Departments. Authorities also worked with security officials from Bank of America and PNC Bank.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Several racially-charged incidents at the South Orange Maplewood School District over the past month have garnered national attention.

MAPLEWOOD -- For South Orange Maplewood Schools Superintendent John Ramos, it hits close to home.

A photo of one of the slave auction posters previously displayed in the South Mountain School. The South Orange Maplewood school district is now responding to another incident in the Jefferson School surrounding the unit in which elementary students are taught about slavery. (Submitted photo)
 

His grandfather was a descendant of slaves. When his children, now adults, were growing up, he said he would have debates with them over their casual use of the n-word.

They would argue, he said, the word as they were using it wasn't spelled the same way, and had a different connotation. But Ramos said he couldn't look past its historical context.

"I understand the depth of that word," he said in a phone interview Wednesday.

When a flurry of racially-charged incidents hit the 6,800-student district over the past month, Ramos said he had somewhat of a mixed reaction to them.

"We acknowledge that people are experiencing real pain," he said.

The incidents include parent outrage over a Colonial America project that allowed fifth grade students to draw slave auction posters, an unsanctioned project in which other elementary school students held a mock slave auction, racial and anti-Semitic graffiti found in several of the district's schools, and students caught using the n-word, b-word, and other derogatory terms in class.

Slurs in class, swastikas in the bathroom

The incidents prompted backlash from parents, and inspired the district to host a town hall community discussion Wednesday night, at which parents voiced their concerns about district curriculum, and the cultural awareness of its students and staff.

Though Ramos said he wasn't happy the incidents garnered national attention, and admitted they are signs that the district still has work to do, "this gives us an opportunity to come together as a community, and to come up with a model" of fair and equitable curriculum guidelines that can be used in other districts, as well, he said.

The district - which serves kids from two Essex County towns that have a reputation of embracing their diverse populations - has been working for years to improve its "cultural competency," he said.

Last year, it passed an "access and equity" policy that, with instructor recommendations, allows students to choose what level courses they take.

The policy is meant to ensure that all classes, including high school honors and advanced placement classes, "reflect our populations," Ramos said.

The school system has also worked to make its curriculum more "culturally responsive," and to incorporate larger initiatives, like the Minority Student Achievement Network, and the state's Amistad curriculum focusing on African American history, he said.

The race-based issues shaking South Orange and Maplewood are a reflection of the larger national conversations on race and cultural differences happening across the country, according to Khalil Muhammad, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School, husband of a SOMA Board of Education member, and father of students in the district.

Khalil was one of several speakers at Wednesday night's town hall.

He said the current climate surrounding race relations has lead to "heightened concerns,' and "lack of trust."

"It is harder now for black parents to trust white teachers," he said.

But he said challenging those fears and concerns, and discussing the larger issues that prompted them is a positive step.

"Being a racially-diverse community does not mean an absence of racial friction, but an embrace of working through that friction," Muhammad said. Towns that stay silent about race-based issues are far worse off, he said.

The district has not yet outlined exactly how the recent incidents will affect its future curriculum, and is holding another town hall in May to continue discussions with community members and parents.

Ramos said he hopes the next few months of planning and discussion will bring to life the intent of the access and equity policy.

"To do that, we're going to have to confront these issues," he said.

"It's our time to do that. This will be our legacy."

The incidents

Slave Posters

• The assignment has been in use in the district for 10 years.
• Elementary students worked on a project about Colonial America in which they could choose to create an advertisement that would occur in a colony, like a slave poster.
• The posters were displayed in the hallway as part of a larger display of the entire Colonial project. Ramos said parents took photos of just the slave posters, without the rest of the project, and displayed them on social media.

Mock Slave Auction

• A fifth grade student presented a project on a colony while a substitute teacher was present.The student incorporated a mock slave auction with other students' participation.
• When the teacher returned, she said she used the incident as a "teaching moment."

Slurs and Graffiti

• The district has found graffiti at several schools depicting the n-word, swastikas, and other similar messages.
• A teacher caught students using racial slurs and derogatory terms in class, and allegedly reiterated the terms when discussing them with the students.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

NJ.com looks at New Jersey's top pitchers as the 2017 high school baseball season readies to open

This year's Meet of Champions will feature 12 returning champions in the 15 individual events. That sets up what should be a great spring for boys track and field.

Two heavy metal heavyweights blew a hole through Montclair Wednesday night

MONTCLAIR -- For 35 years, New Jersey concerts have marked veritable homecomings for Anthrax, the lone East Coast member of thrash metal's venerable "Big Four." 

While fellow genre legends Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer largely cut their fangs in the early '80s Los Angeles scenes, Queens-formed Anthrax gigged early and often in New Jersey, as guitarist Scott Ian reminds in a recent interview with APP.com. 

Shepherded by Jonny Zazula, owner of Megaforce Records -- then run from an indoor flea market in Old Bridge -- Anthrax played regularly in Sayreville and Dover before earning its keep in the much more competitive New York hard-rock scene.

So when the explosive five-piece returned to Montclair Wednesday night, Ian, sky-scraping vocalist Joey Belladonna and the guys were overjoyed -- and well-rested -- in their opening night to the anticipated "Killthrax tour," a 26-date U.S. romp that co-headlines with Massachusetts metalcore titans Killswitch Engage.  

Anthrax performs during a show March 29, 2017, at The Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey. (Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media) 

For a band that largely relies on chugging hits released 25 and 30 years ago to fill its setlist, Anthrax showed no signs of complacency. The gang vocals on chugging hits "Madhouse" and "Caught in a Mosh," rang hard from the Wellmont Theater PA, while bassist Frank Bello seemed taken by mania all night, thrashing and attacking his instrument like his sheer existence depended on it.

At 56, Belladonna still maintains a highly effective instrument, not unlike enduring metal frontmen Rob Halford (Judas Priest) or Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) where a deep vibrato and an operatic range command a venue. Belladonna nailed an ascendent a cappella opening to "N.F.L." and was wholly engaging with the sold-out crowd, endlessly mugging, joking with folks and tossing Ian's guitar picks as souvenirs (hey, he needs those!).

The band has toured with most of its "classic" lineup since 2010 when Belladonna rejoined, the lone newbie being lead guitarist Jonathan Donais, longtime shredder for the popular Massachusetts metal act Shadows Fall who came on in 2013.

Donais was quick-fingered and dutiful while Ian -- perhaps the band's most recognizable member with his long goatee and shaved head -- took many of the literal spotlights and shared solos. Donais ripped "Breathing Lightning," the single from the band's well-received 2016 LP "For All Kings." 

But for all the cheers, pumping fists and devil horns thrust Anthrax's way during its 75-minute set, the crowd of 2,000 spilt into mayhem for Killswitch Engage, who closed the night with a throttling performance of its own.

Since its seminal LP "Alive Or Just Breathing" seamlessly melded thrash metal and traditional hardcore punk in 2002, Killswitch has been at the forefront of the American metalcore movement, which soared highest about a decade ago. The rollicking five-piece welcomed its original vocalist Jesse Leach back into the fold in 2012, who injected a more pointed, punk sensibility into the group and spurred two strong LPs in 2013's "Disarm The Descent" and "Incarnate" released last spring. 

The band did well to mix the new material with older hits, many of which were written by and for former singer Howard Jones, a tremendous belter. 

Killswitch Engage lead singer Jesse Leach performs during a show March 29, 2017, at The Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey. (Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media) 

But Leach was terrific and fresh this night, unleashing serrated screams and clean vocals on Jones' past singles "Rose of Sharyn" and the Grammy-nominated epic "The End of Heartache," which all but wiped the old frontman's memory away. Bombastic lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz was unsurprisingly animated, sprinting across the stage mid-riff and posing for the wild crowd. 

A circle pit ran rampant from the back of the floor, and fans chanted heartily for "Holy Diver," a Dio cover adopted by Killswitch in 2007 but only again added to their live set this night.

The telling new track "Hate By Design" and the cathartic single "Strength of the Mind" blasted from the Jersey speakers and seem to bode well for the band's future as they near their 20th year raging around the world.  

The Killthrax tour, also featuring The Devil Wears Prada and Jasta, hits Electric Factory in Philadelphia April 5. 

Anthrax's set list

Wellmont Theater, March 29, 2017  

"Among the Living"

"Caught in a Mosh" 

"Madhouse"

"Fight 'Em"

"I am the Law" 

"Breathing Lightning" 

"N.F.L."

"Evil Twin"

"Blood Eagle"

"Antisocial"

"Indians" 

Killswitch Engage's set list 

Wellmont Theater, March 29, 2017  

"Hate By Design" 

"Vida Infra"

"My Last Serenade" 

"A Bid Farewell"

"The Hell In Me"

"The Arms of Sorrow" 

"Alone I Stand"

"The End Of Heartache" 

"Quiet Distress"

"This Fire" 

"Rose of Sharyn"

"This is Absolution"

"Beyond The Flames" 

"My Curse"

"Strength of the Mind"

"Holy Diver" (Dio cover)

"In Due Time" 

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.