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Gang Member’s Mom Used Her Job at U.S. Attorney’s Office to Expose ‘Snitches’: Prosecutors

Tawanna Hilliard is accused of using her job at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office to access info on criminal cases and unmask cooperating witnesses.

A paralegal at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office is accused of using a government computer to out people “snitching” to authorities about the activities of the Bloods, the street gang to which her son is said to belong. Tawanna Hilliard, 44, has been charged with witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and obtaining information from a government computer, and she pleaded not guilty Tuesday, according to federal prosecutors. In the indictment, federal prosecutors allege that Hilliard used equipment issued by the Department of Justice to search databases of criminal cases and help the 5-9 Brims, a set of the Bloods, by identifying and exposing witnesses who were cooperating with authorities. Hilliard was also accused of uploading a post-arrest video of her son’s co-defendant in a 2018 robbery on YouTube, showing that he was cooperating with law-enforcement officials, NJ.com reports. Hilliard was released on a $75,000 bond and ordered not to have contact with the gang or her son, Tyquan, who was also named in the indictment and is said to be serving time in a New York state prison.