New Jersey
A luxury car for bullying the A.G.? Menendez jurors hear about a deal to 'kill all investigation' • New Jersey Monitor
Four weeks into Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial in Manhattan, jurors have heard barely a peep about the co-defendant who pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against him.
That changed Wednesday, when prosecutors spent the day explaining failed insurance broker Jose Uribe’s role in what they call a many-tentacled bribery scheme, laying the foundation for former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to testify Thursday.
Prosecutors say Menendez, New Jersey’s senior senator, called and met with Grewal several times in 2019 in a bid to stop a state insurance fraud investigation and prosecution into Uribe’s friends.
In exchange, Uribe hosted a July 2018 fundraiser for the senator in Cliffside Park and spent tens of thousands of dollars on a new Mercedes-Benz convertible for the senator’s wife, Nadine, who needed a car to replace one she totaled in December 2018, according to testimony Wednesday.
“The deal is to kill and stop all investigation,” Uribe texted his friend Wael Hana, who prosecutors said connected him with the couple.
The senator’s alleged attempt to strong-arm Grewal didn’t work — trucking company owner Elvis Parra, who was scheduled to stand trial in April 2019 for bilking nearly $389,000 from an insurance carrier, pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and got sentenced to probation.
Yet Uribe, who covered the $15,000 down payment on the $67,000-plus Mercedes, continued paying monthly bills on the car — to the tune of about $30,000 — until FBI agents searched the Menendezes’ home in June 2022 as part of their corruption probe.
“The car is home,” Nadine texted the senator after signing paperwork for it at the dealership on April 5, 2019.
“Woopy!!!” the senator texted back.
To Uribe, she texted: “You are a miracle worker who makes dreams come true. I will always remember that.”
Prosecutor Paul Monteleoni methodically presented hundreds of texts, emails, calls, and other documents Wednesday, through questioning FBI Special Agent Rachel Graves, that showed Uribe began texting Nadine Menendez so frequently for access to the senator that within months, she called him “family.”
“I will not let you down. You are family,” Nadine Menendez assured Uribe by text when it appeared the state investigation was proceeding.
The senator called Grewal in early September 2019 and two days later met him and Andrew Bruck in a meeting that was conspicuously missing from his official Senate calendar, testimony showed. Bruck was Grewal’s executive assistant attorney general and briefly succeeded him when Grewal left in July 2021 to become director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s division of enforcement.
After that meeting, the senator texted his wife: “Done.” Uribe later texted a friend and told him that he met with Menendez — whom he called “the Amigo” — at his apartment after the Grewal meeting, and the senator reported feeling “very positive” about it, testimony showed.
In a day of a dizzying amount of exhibits, prosecutors continued trying to dismantle defense attorneys’ claim that Menendez didn’t know much of what his wife did, showing text exchanges both banal and suggestive that he was well-aware of her doings. They also have repeatedly referred to his frequent use of a Find My Friends tracking app to check on Nadine’s whereabouts.
Wednesday’s testimony revealed other tantalizing tidbits that promise to make Nadine Menendez’s trial interesting. She’s not set to be tried until at least July, after Judge Sidney H. Stein granted her request for a delay so she could get needed medical treatment.
Texts showed that Nadine had a flip phone she used for sensitive communications that she called her “007 cell number.” On her loan application for the Mercedes, she said she was “self-employed,” listed her occupation as “vice president,” and reported an income of $197,000.
The December 12, 2018, night she totaled her Mercedes, she was on her way to see Rosemarie Sorce, the wife of a real estate developer and a Menendez donor, according to testimony.
She texted Sorce at 7:28 p.m. that she had hit detours and was just a few miles away — and six minutes later, texted again: “911 call me.”
“I’m sitting in an ambulance,” she texted Sorce 20 minutes later.
Police have said the collision happened at 7:35 p.m.
Nadine had hit and killed a jaywalking pedestrian in Bogota. Police did not ticket her or test her for intoxication, and she was not charged. Jurors will not hear those details, which Stein deemed prejudicial.
The trial is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Besides Grewal, prosecutors told Stein they also expect to call an FBI agent who’s a fingerprint analyst.
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New Jersey
Dan Levy’s new Netflix comedy ‘Big Mistakes’ was filmed at these New Jersey locations
Filming Big Mistakes in New Jersey was no mistake at all.
The Netflix comedy series, which debuted earlier this month, has already hit the streaming service’s Global Top 10 English TV List, making it one of the most-watched shows out right now.
As per Netflix, the comedy series co-created, executive produced, written and starring Emmy winner Dan Levy, follows Nicky (Levy) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega), two deeply incapable siblings who are in over their heads when a misguided theft for their dying grandmother accidentally pulls them into the world of organized crime. Blackmailed into increasingly dangerous assignments, they clumsily fail upwards, sinking deeper into chaos they’re ill-equipped to handle. The dark comedy, which has only eight episodes, has a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes so far.
RECOMMENDED: Where was ‘Beef’ season 2 filmed? Behind the locations of the dark Netflix comedy
Set in the fictional New Jersey suburb of Glenview, the series was fittingly filmed primarily in numerous towns and cities in New Jersey, including Caldwell, Cranford, Franklin Lakes, Irvington, Jersey City, Union, Warren and Weehawken for a total of 40 filming locations. (The cartel storyline in Episode 7 was shot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where its coastline and architecture doubled as Miami’s waterfront, luxury estates and yacht life.)
“I’ve really enjoyed shooting in New Jersey,” location manager Mia Thompson said. “We have quite a number of recurring locations that have all just been wonderful—not only the home owners, but the business owners, the towns, the local police, the local fire departments, the town clerks. It’s been a really great experience.”
More than 300 cast and crew and 500 vendors took part in the production. Ortega, who plays Morgan, is actually a New Jersey native and was surprised to film in her backyard.
“It was surreal getting to film in my home state,” she said. “I grew up in New Jersey and was obsessed with film and television and never thought I’d be returning home for such a major project and moment in my life.”
The show filmed the scenes at Morelli’s Hardware, run by Nicky and Morgan’s mom (Laurie Metcalf), at Edison Millwork & Hardware, a more than 50-year-old, family-owned hardware store in Edison.
“It’s one of the few mom and pop hardware stores that are left anywhere, really, so it was really great to find this location that fits very perfectly with our story,” Thompson said.
The show was also filmed at Wyoming Presbyterian Church in Millburn—the backdrop for Nicky’s day job as a pastor and his living space.
“We’ve utilized every inch of space of that church inside and out,” said Thompson. “They’ve enjoyed the experience just as much as we have.”
Other spots they filmed at include Deerfield School, Essex County Airport, Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, Hatfield Swamp, Springfield Municipal Building and the Crystal Inn in Eatontown.
“One thing about New Jersey is that it’s so diverse. The various neighborhoods offer different kinds of looks and aesthetics,” said Thompson. “You have everything that you could ask for.”
See Jersey in all eight episodes, streaming now on Netflix.
New Jersey
ACLU featured at Bruce Springsteen No Kings show in New Jersey
Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band tour rehearsal in Ocean Grove
Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band March 26, 2026 Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour rehearsal at the Ocean Grove Youth Center in Ocean Grove.
There will be No Kings at the Monday, April 20 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show at the Prudential Center in Newark but the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey will be there.
The group will be the “featured organization” for the New Jersey stop of the band’s Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour.
“We’re honored to have the opportunity to work with New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen to advocate for the rights and freedoms that all people deserve,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha in statement. “This moment requires all of us, and we are grateful to Bruce, who is using his platform to fight against authoritarianism and for our rights. We share a love for New Jersey and a desire to make the Garden State safer and freer for everyone who calls it home. Our team is thrilled to connect with everyone who shares our mission to protect and defend civil liberties, and who knows the power that art and music have to change the world.”
Springsteen said the American Dream is under attack by “our wannabe king and his rogue government” when he announced the tour on Feb. 17. Promotional posters for the tour features the phrase “No Kings,” a reflection of the national anti-President Donald Trump protests that have taken place in the last year.
The tour kickoff was March 31 at the Target Center in Minneapolis and it included 27 songs over three hours. The show also featured some direct talk from Springsteen on the state of the country. The setlist included the newly composed “Streets of Minneapolis,” written after the fatal shooting by federal agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti of Minneapolis in January.
ACLU-NJ representatives will be at the Prudential Center to talk to concertgoers about its work. The American Civil Liberties Union previously released an ad with the Springsteen classic “Born in the U.S.A.” featured on the eve of the Supreme Court case where the ACLU is challenging the President Trump’s executive order attempting to overturn the current interpretation of 14th Amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to those born in the U.S. regardless of their parents’ legal status.
Visit www.aclu-nj.org for more info on the ACLU-NJ.
Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.
Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com
New Jersey
NJ Lottery Pick-3, Pick-4, Cash 5, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for Sunday, April 19
The New Jersey Lottery offers multiple draw games for people looking to strike it rich.
Here’s a look at April 19, 2026, results for each game:
Pick-3
Midday: 8-7-3, Fireball: 9
Evening: 5-0-8, Fireball: 0
Check Pick-3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Pick-4
Midday: 4-7-7-9, Fireball: 9
Evening: 5-9-7-8, Fireball: 0
Check Pick-4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Jersey Cash 5
20-25-35-38-45, Xtra: 35
Check Jersey Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Millionaire for Life
32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Quick Draw
Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.
Cash Pop
Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the New Jersey Lottery drawings held?
- Pick-3: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
- Pick-4: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
- Jersey Cash 5: 10:57 p.m. daily.
- Pick-6: 10:57 p.m. Monday and Thursday.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Jersey Sr Breaking News Editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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