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.

In August 2015, Talafous had his license to practice law revoked by The Supreme Court of New Jersey, after his unlawful behavior was reported to the state Division of Criminal Justice by the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics. This indictment supersedes a previous indictment from November 2015, claiming Talafous had stolen from merely one of his clients.

“Attorneys have a duty to uphold the law and faithfully serve their clients, but we allege that Talafous instead broke the law to serve himself,” acting Attorney General Robert Lougy said in a statement. As for the official arraignment, Talafous will be ordered to attend court at a date not yet determined by officials.

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

Andrew Carr, 59, of Upper Darby, PA was charged with conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Carr played a leading role in the apparent methamphetamine trafficking business, serving as the “muscle” responsible for collecting drug debts, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The business sold nearly $40,000 in methamphetamine in the Philadelphia and Delaware County areas each month, the U.S. Attorney's office said. A member of the Chester chapter of the Warlocks outlaw motorcycle gang, Carr faces a minimum of five years in prison, and a maximum of 40 years, along with other fines. The official sentencing hearing will take place on August 17, 2016. New Jersey Attorney General:
Alyssa Walsh of North Bergen will receive $7,900 as the result of a wrongful discharge settlement with her former employer because she revealed she was pregnant, according to acting Attorney General Robert Lougy. In 2014, Walsh was hired by Diamond Staffing, of West New York, as a packer on an assembly line. Walsh was at work when she was approached by a Diamond Staffing manager who asked if she was pregnant. Walsh disclosed that she was in fact pregnant, and was assigned to “light duty” for the remainder of that work day. Following this interaction, Walsh was supposedly told that there was no longer work for her at her current location (Secaucus) and that she would be given other jobs “more suitable to her condition,” which never came to fruition. Diamond Staffing claimed that Walsh refused to complete work tasks assigned to her because of her pregnancy, but a witness testified that Walsh had never neglected her tasks or requested special treatment for her pregnancy.

Darren Slimick

Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General:

Two Pennsylvania men were arrested on numerous accounts of child pornography, following two separate investigations by the Office of Attorney General’s Child Predator Section in both Allegheny and Lebanon counties, as announced by Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane’s office.

The defendants are Darren Slimick, 28, of Allegheny County, and John Paul Galloway, 34, of Lebanon County.

Slimick’s possession of child pornography was discovered when it was determine that his IP address was responsible for graphic images of children during an undercover investigation into the distribution of online child pornography. After obtaining a warrant, Slimick’s property was investigated and the Attorney General’s Computer Forensics Unit discovered several electronic devices containing media files qualifying as child pornography. On May 19, Slimick waived a preliminary hearing and is currently confined to Allegheny County Jail after not posting his $30,000 bail.

John Paul Galloway

As a result, Slimick is being charged with five counts of possession of child pornography, and a single count each of distribution of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility.

Galloway’s possession was discovered after a cyber tip was submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, leading investigators to Galloway’s residence. Upon searching the premicise, several electronic storage devices containing pornographic files of children were found. Galloway was charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography, and one count of criminal use of a communication facility.

Currently, Galloway remains in in the Lebanon County Prison after not posting his $50,000 bail. He will have his preliminary hearing on June 2nd.