NEWARK – An East Orange man was federal indicted today on charges in connection with the carjacking of a couple in East Orange, in which a male victim was pistol-whipped and a female victim suffered a gunshot wound to the head, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

The two-count Indictment charges Noah Cuebas, 23, a.k.a. “Rah Rah,” with one count of carjacking and one count of use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime. Cuebas is currently being held in state custody in Bergen County. He will have an arraignment on the charges contained in the Indictment in the coming weeks.

According to a Criminal Complaint signed on July 24, a male and female were in a parked 2006 Dodge Magnum in East Orange on July 8, 2006. The Complaint alleges that Cuebas, wearing a hooded green army jacket and blue jeans approached the vehicle, and pointed a handgun at the male victim and then pistol-whipped and beat him. Allegedly, Cuebas ordered the male victim to drive the vehicle to another location in East Orange. Upon arrival at that location, Cuebas ordered the male victim to get out of the vehicle, and told the female victim to drive the vehicle. A short time later, the vehicle was found in a location in Newark with the female victim inside suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Complaint.

Video from a surveillance camera near the location where law enforcement officers discovered the female victim and the vehicle shows a man wearing a hooded green army jacket and blue jeans getting out of the vehicle, according to the Complaint.

According to the Complaint, on July 18, 2006, law enforcement officers interviewed Cuebas regarding the carjacking. After being advised of his rights, and waving same, Cuebas stated, in substance and in part, that on July 8, 2006, he saw a man and a woman parked in a Dodge Magnum, in East Orange; he approached the couple and pointed a .45 caliber handgun at them; he then pistol-whipped and beat the man; he ordered the man to drive the vehicle to another location in East Orange; he then told the man to get out of the vehicle, and told the woman to drive the vehicle to a location in Newark; and he then shot the woman in the head.

The Indictment can be found on the Public Affairs Office web site at: www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/publicaffairs/index.html

The defendant is charged in Count One of the Indictment with carjacking, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Count Two of the Indictment charges use or possession a firearm during or in furtherance of a crime of violence, that is the carjacking charged in Count 1, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life and a fine of $250,000.

In determining an actual sentence, the judge to whom the case is assigned would, upon a conviction, consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Despite indictment, each of the defendants is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI’s Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Paula T. Dow, and the Police Departments of Newark, East Orange, and Rahway, with the investigation leading to the Indictment.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph R. Gribko of the Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense Attorney: K. Anthony Thomas, Esq. Asst. Federal Public Defender