Men Who Hid $17K In Kid's Coat Stopped In Fort Lee: Prosecutor

FORT LEE, NJ — Two Pennsylvania men were arrested and charged with money laundering after authorities found more than $17,500 in a kid's coat inside their vehicle, authorities said.

Joel Maldonado and Joel Rivera, both 23 and both of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, were charged after detectives stopped their 2012 Jeep Cherokee on Interstate 95 Monday, said Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella.

The detectives, who were from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Narcotic Task Force searched the vehicle. They found several bundles of money wrapped in rubber bands inside the sleeves of a child's winter coat, Musella said. The money was more than $17,500, he said.

Maldonado and Rivera are scheduled to appear in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack Sept. 11.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com