By John Burton
FREEHOLD – The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and U.S. Attorney’s Office have announced a joint effort to battle gun-related activity in the county.
Named Project Stop the Violence, the initiative will have members of both offices work with law enforcement on all levels of government to strategize about prosecuting those who have charged with committing crimes involving guns and who been involved in violent criminal activity. They will determine whether those accused are appropriate candidates for federal prosecution, according to Charles Webster, public information officer for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
So far three cases in Monmouth County have been selected for federal prosecution under the initiative. One of the cases in involved Robert A. Fiolka, 69, of Staten Island, N.Y., who was sentenced in federal court in July to 114 months for a June 2, 2012, armed robbery of the Blue Stove Antiques jewelry store in Fair Haven.
Depending on the case circumstances, the defendants may face stiffer sentences if convicted in federal court. Because parole is not available in the federal judicial system, those defendants typically serve a minimum of 85 percent of their sentence.
