CAMDEN, New Jersey – The Maserati-driving ex New Jersey GOP aide accused of paying a fetish artist to carve into her skin in a staged anti-Trump attack still bears the horrific scars — even as she’s trying to make a “fresh start” in Florida after undergoing mental health treatment.

Glamorous former law student Natalie Greene, 26, arrived at Camden Federal Court Wednesday in her Italian sports car, wearing a dark green mini dress and clutching a Louis Vuitton bag while sporting an ankle monitor on her left leg – along with the ghastly healed gashes still visible on her neck and jawline.

The Ocean City resident, arrested in November, allegedly paid a body modification artist $500 to slash dozens of gruesome wounds into her face, neck, chest, back, and shoulders with a scalpel on July 21.

Two days later, prosecutors said she staged a bogus attack at Egg Harbor Township Nature Reserve, claiming three assailants held her at gunpoint, mutilated her skin, and wrote “Trump Whore” on her stomach.

At a court hearing Wednesday, Camden federal Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Pascal approved Greene’s request to relocate to Fort Lauderdale, where she will live with – and be supervised by – a childhood friend who was previously busted for cocaine and riding an unlicensed vehicle in the streets.

Greene’s lawyer, Louis Barbone, argued that the accused fraudster was desperate to rebuild her life, saying she had struggled to find work due to the case, had received death threats and been stalked online.

“The prospect of Natalie Greene getting a job in this area is slim to none,” Barbone told the judge, adding that moving to the Sunshine State “gives her a fresh start and ability to act normal.”

He added that despite living with her ex-boyfriend’s mother in what he described as a tension-filled “hell hole,” the former Rutgers Law student has successfully completed her court-mandated mental health treatment.

Barbone said Greene, who has a job lined up in Florida, will continue mental health treatment, stay on electronic monitoring, and follow a curfew when she lives with Kristin Haughton-James, a twice arrested mom of two who appeared in court via video to confirm she can accommodate her former campmate.

Federal prosecutors argued that the request for Haughton-James to supervise the former congressional aide to Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) was taking her from “the frying pan into the fire.”

“I don’t think it’s a better plan,” prosecutor Patrick Askin said, pointing to the Florida woman’s 2025 arrest for riding an ATV in the street as a “red flag for judgement” and a “lack of respect for the law.”

Haughton-James was also busted in 2013 at age 19 for possession of cocaine, for which she went through a treatment program. She currently uses medical marijuana daily to treat her anxiety and is on probation for her current arrest.

But Pascal found Haughton-James, a waitress, “incredibly credible and forthright.”

The childhood friend agreed to report any violations Green – whom she met two decades ago and later reconnected with on Facebook following her high-profile arrest – assured the court that she “completely understands” her new responsibilities as a legal custodian.

Greene and Barbone declined to comment upon leaving court, though the latter said he hopes to negotiate a plea deal with federal prosecutors after reviewing the evidence.

The suspected con artist worked for Van Drew’s office while also attending Rutgers Law School at the time of the alleged hoax attack.

Greene claimed three gun-wielding men approached her on the nature trail, hog-tied her with black zip ties, and held her down while slashing her face and body on July 23.

“TRUMP WHORE” and “Van Drew is a racist” were also scrawled on her body with black marker.

Prosecutors said Greene was taken to a hospital, where she and her accomplice gave police conflicting accounts of what happened and provided faulty descriptions of the phantom assailants.

Police also found zip-ties stashed in her Maserati SUV.

Greene is charged with conspiracy to convey false statements and hoaxes and making false statements to federal law enforcement.

She faces up to ten years behind bars and a $250,000 fine if convicted on both counts.

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As we close the curtain on Gov. Phil Murphy’s tenure, he leaves behind some big shoes for Gov. Mikie Sherill to step into as her term begins. I often speak with government officials as part of my work who are wary of using their powers to give incarcerated people second chances due to their fear of political blowback. While it would have been easy for Murphy to sit on the sidelines, instead he followed through on his promises to expand access to pardons across the state and help alleviate the collateral consequences of past criminal convictions.

Murphy granted 307 people clemency under his administration — more people than all of New Jersey’s governors in the last three decades combined. We now look to Sherill to continue that good work, because there’s still so much more to be done.

New Jersey must keep making progress on clemency

Despite how successful New Jersey has been in cutting its incarcerated population in half over the past 15 years, this state still has the most racially disparate prison population in the nation. Not only that, New Jersey Department of Corrections’ data shows about 22% of the state prison population is aged 50 or older, which is a drastic increase from just 13% a decade ago. Increased medical costs associated with the aging of New Jersey’s prison population costs the state up to $2 million each year per person, without even including the $300,000 in wages that go to corrections officers. New Jersey must take common sense action to return elderly incarcerated people to their communities and unburden the corrections system from the weight of unnecessarily incarcerating this population. 

Sherill already has tools at her disposal from day one to do something about this. Clemency is an extremely powerful tool that can be utilized to address past and current injustices, safely reduce the prison population, save taxpayer money, and return much-needed mentors to our communities. In fact, clemency is enshrined in the state constitution as a power that provides the governor with broad discretion to grant pardons and commutations to people with criminal convictions. This power is at its most useful when applied to people whose continued criminal convictions or sentences of incarceration no longer serve the interest of justice and are no longer in the interest of public safety for New Jersey’s communities — which is a perfect description for the people aging in our prisons, as recidivism and reincarceration rates for those over 60 in the state has been found to be as low as 3%.

Charlie Stile: The Sherrill era is beginning. What NJ crises does she face? | Opinion

Murphy leaves behind a strong legacy of mercy and justice that will forever define his years in office. Now Sherrill has an opportunity to continue that legacy by building on Murphy’s clemency initiative and the strong foundation he established. This commitment will help ensure New Jersey continues to set the standard for safely reducing prison populations and that we continue the work to help balance the scales of justice while preserving public safety.

Celeste Trusty is state legislative affairs director for FAMM. She previously served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons.

You’ve heard me on The Judi & EJ Show talk about how much I love grocery shopping at Aldi — and I’ll say it again: I am an Aldi shopper through and through. Our coworker Kyle Forcini is too. We both love the tight selection of quality items, and for staples it’s the best value in Jersey. Of course, when I’m looking for specialty items, I still like to hit ShopRite, Giant, or Acme.

Why I kept driving past Amazon Fresh without stopping

Lately I’ve also been intrigued by the Amazon Fresh stores each time I drive by one. I suppose the intrigue comes from being an Amazon online shopper — you know, when I drive past and say, “oh cool, look at that Amazon supermarket.” But it seems I was just not curious enough to actually go inside. And now… I might not get the chance anyway.

Amazon announces closure of all Amazon Fresh grocery stores

Amazon just announced it’s closing all of its physical Fresh stores nationwide, which includes the ones we have right here in New Jersey. The company says it will continue Amazon Fresh as an online grocery brand, but the brick-and-mortar Fresh and cashier-less Go stores are shutting their doors because Amazon hasn’t been able to “create a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model” for expanding these stores.

New Jersey Amazon Fresh locations that are closing

In New Jersey, the Fresh locations that are slated to close include:
Eatontown – 137 NJ-25, Eatontown
Lodi – 2 Memorial Drive, Lodi
Paramus – 30 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus
Woodland Park – 1510 Route 46, Woodland Park

Amazon hasn’t given a lot of details on exact closing dates here, but reports indicate most Fresh and Go stores are expected to be closed by early February 2026 as the company pivots toward other grocery formats.

Could Whole Foods replace Amazon Fresh stores in New Jersey?

Here’s an interesting twist: some of these Fresh stores could be converted into Whole Foods Markets, and Amazon plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods and related formats in the next few years.

So, while I’ll miss the drive-by curiosity, I’ll likely be sticking with my Aldi route and grabbing specialty items where they’re easiest to find. And who knows — maybe a Whole Foods in one of these spots will give me something new to explore!