NJ Judge Ejects Prosecutor, Orders Leaders to Testify

A federal judge in New Jersey ejected a senior prosecutor from his courtroom during a child pornography sentencing hearing on Monday and ordered three top officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office to testify under oath about the office's leadership structure.

The incident occurred before U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi during the sentencing of Francisco Villafane, who had pleaded guilty to possession of illegal child sexual abuse material. Villafane, according to the Justice Department's complaint, engaged in an online sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl in 2023, exchanging over 7,000 messages and instructing her to send pornographic images and videos. He texted the victim, "I'm willing to spend life in prison to be with you."

Prosecutors Daniel Rosenblum and Mark Coyne appeared for the hearing. Quraishi grew frustrated when Coyne, the office's head of appeals, had not filed a formal notice of appearance. The judge allowed Coyne to remain as a supervisor but barred him from speaking. Tensions escalated as Quraishi questioned Rosenblum about a proposed plea agreement that recommended a sentence well below federal guidelines, despite evidence later revealing images...