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What does the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey do?
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey prosecutes federal crimes throughout the state.
NorthJersey.com
PATERSON — During the first robbery at Tony’s Pharmacy on 21st Avenue — back on Dec. 30, 2022 — a suspect wearing a mask pointed a gun at an employee and demanded Xanax, oxycodone, lorazepam, and promethazine, according to the FBI.
But it seems the employee didn’t fully comply with that demand.
Federal authorities say the same suspect went back to the pharmacy 71 days later, fired a gunshot inside the business, and again demanded oxycodone. The suspect then told the employee who he had allegedly victimized in the December robbery that he should shoot him “for not putting oxycodone in the bag the first time,” the FBI said.
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The two crimes at Tony’s Pharmacy were among seven robberies at five different drugstores in Paterson and Passaic covered by a nine-count indictment the United States Attorney’s Office made public late Wednesday night against 26-year-old Onijee Burgess of Paterson.
Federal authorities said Burgess conspired with Antonio Rivera, 47, of Paterson to commit the robberies over a 19-week span stretching from Nov. 28, 2022 through April 5, 2023.
Rivera was arrested on April 24, 2023 on charges involving two of the robberies, while Burgess was arrested on Oct. 17, 2023 in connection with all seven crimes, according to federal court records.
Lawyers representing the two accused men could not be reached for comment.
The criminal complaint filed against Burgess last October said Tony’s and Hospital Pharmacy on Market Street in Paterson were targeted twice by the suspects, while Mort Jacobs Pharmacy on Park Avenue in Paterson, Das Pharmacy on Van Houten Avenue in Passaic, and Passaic Community Pharmacy on Passaic Street in Passaic were hit once.
Photos from suspects’ phones as evidence
Included in the evidence cited by federal authorities was a photo allegedly found on one of the suspects’ phones that was taken of the outside Hospital Pharmacy on Jan. 11, 2023 — in the time between the first and second robberies at the business.
The FBI’s description of the crimes said the masked suspects demanded drugs and took money from the cash registers. The accused allegedly fired their guns in five of the robberies, but the criminal complaints indicated said nothing about anyone being injured by the gunfire.
Among the other photos from the suspects’ phones cited as evidence in the case were one showing drugs taken the day before, another with a suspect holding cash that reportedly was taken from a pharmacy, and a third of one of the suspects wearing a ski mask pointing the muzzle of a gun at the camera.
Both men remain in custody, authorities said. Court records do not indicate whether the US Attorney’s Office has convened a grand jury regarding the accusations against Rivera.
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