MONROE UNFILTERED: THE DAILY BUZZ | Sept. 30
Taking Back Main Street and a Motel's Dark Decade
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
DAILY WEATHER
Hump day brings the nicest weather of the week so far. Watch for patchy fog early, then it turns mostly sunny with a high near 76°F and just a 9% chance of rain. Tonight drops to around 60°F. A good night for a walk down Main Street.
Thursday, the first day of October, warms to about 79°F. Friday is the warmest of the stretch, near 83°F, with a chance of afternoon showers, so keep the umbrella in the car. The weekend cools off, around 70°F on Saturday.
TAKING BACK MAIN STREET
After a street takeover in August and a stabbing last week, Stroudsburg is forming a "Safe Streets Main Street" task force. Its first meeting is Monday, Oct. 5, Borough Manager Larry Kopp told WFMZ.
The group will bring together police, borough leaders, emergency services and business owners to look at long-term fixes. Downtown ambassadors and surge patrols are among the ideas being weighed, and Kopp said "police presence is a very important thing," with Stroud Area Regional Police part of that discussion.
Behind Closed Doors. The task force will meet privately, according to WFMZ, and will bring proposals to public council meetings only after that. So the first round of decisions about how Main Street gets policed will happen out of public view.
The 2 A.M. Problem? Kopp pushed back on the idea that Main Street is unsafe. He said overall crime in the borough is down 10% and that "the only problems we've ever seen have been a closing on Friday and Saturday nights at about 2 o'clock in the morning."
The recent record doesn't line up with that. Police say the fight and stabbing at 630 Main St. happened around 10 p.m. on a Wednesday, Sept. 23. The Aug. 29 takeover broke out around midnight on a Saturday, according to video FOX56 received that night, a couple of hours before any bar closed. Four men have been charged in the stabbing, and all are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
"Enough Is Enough." Steve Ertle of the advocacy group Pocono People First wants action, not another round of policy talk: stop cars from flying down the street, and have business owners, SARP and state police clear the crowds within about 15 minutes of bar close. "At a certain point, you're gonna get somebody killed on the street," he told WFMZ.
The meeting is closed, but the questions aren't. We will be asking what comes out of it.
THE DAILY RUNDOWN
Morales Trial: The Texts, and a Plea. Matthew Morales, 33, of Tobyhanna Township, is on trial for the May 24, 2024, shooting death of Henry Koroma Jr. at My Place Bar and Grill in Middle Smithfield Township. He is charged with criminal homicide and two felony firearms counts, and his attorney says he acted in self-defense.
In court, jurors saw what was on Koroma's phone. Detective Sgt. Brian Webbe of the DA's office testified Sept. 25 about texts between the two men in the days before the shooting, including talk of a "59," which an earlier witness described as a 59-second fight. The phone also showed a same-day web search: "How Best to Fight Fat Guy."
Then the co-defendant folded. Raymond Batiste, 40, of Allentown, pleaded guilty Monday (Sept. 28) to a misdemeanor count of obstruction of justice, the Pocono Record reports. He had been on trial alongside Morales on two felony counts of hindering apprehension. That news hit the wire after our Tuesday edition went out, which is why yesterday's Buzz still had him facing the felonies. No verdict for Morales had been reported as of Tuesday evening. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Former Tobyhanna Township Woman Faces Child Sex Charges. Amanda J. Brown, 59, who now lives in Missouri, is charged with rape of a child and related felonies involving three young family members, abuse that police say happened around 2011 and 2012 while she lived in Tobyhanna Township, the Pocono Record reports. Pocono Mountain Regional Police investigated, and the case is before Monroe County Judge Stephen Higgins, where her formal arraignment was scheduled for Monday. No outcome had been reported as of Tuesday. She is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Wrong Way on 611. Pocono Township police have charged Ernest A. Mastria with fleeing or attempting to elude police and two other counts. Police say he was driving a red ATV the wrong way on Route 611 in Swiftwater on Sept. 3 and took off when officers tried to stop him. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
THE VAULT: WHAT HAPPENED AT THE HOWARD JOHNSON
Three weeks ago, in our story on the 2006 Goya heist, we noted that the Bartonsville motel manager quoted in the original coverage was later sent to federal prison, and we promised to come back to it. Here it is.
For most of the last decade, federal prosecutors say, the Howard Johnson at 1779 N. Ninth St. in Bartonsville was "a safe haven for criminal activity."
How It Started. In 2014, the FBI, Stroud Area Regional Police, the Monroe County District Attorney's Office and state police began investigating a street gang called the Black P Stones, which is affiliated with the Bloods. Over six years, that case produced 40 federal convictions, and it led straight to the motel's front desk.
What the Jury Heard. According to the Justice Department, general manager Faizal Bhimani made rooms available to sex traffickers and drug dealers from 2011 to 2019, took payment out of criminal proceeds, traded free or discounted rooms for sex, let guests check in under false names, and warned traffickers and dealers when police were in the building. Dozens of women were forced into prostitution through physical force, threats, false promises and coercion, prosecutors said, and many of them were addicted to heroin or crack cocaine.
The Verdict. On Oct. 23, 2020, a federal jury convicted Bhimani, part-owner Nazim Hassam, the motel's owner company Om Sri Sai Inc., and the Pocono Plaza Inn in Stroudsburg, formerly a Quality Inn. The Justice Department called it the first time in Pennsylvania that a hotel, hotel owner or hotel general manager had been convicted of criminal sex trafficking offenses.
The Sentences. U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion sentenced Bhimani to 15 years in federal prison in February 2022. Hassam got five years and a $150,000 fine that May. Om Sri Sai was ordered to forfeit $2 million and pay $277,630 in restitution to victims, and the Pocono Plaza Inn was fined $50,000. A federal appeals court upheld Bhimani's conviction in August 2023.
This story covers what happened from 2011 to 2019, as laid out in federal court. It says nothing about who owns or runs any hotel on that site today.
If you or someone you know is being trafficked, the National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888, or text 233733.
MONROE MARKET MOVERS
Something sweet is coming to Crystal Street, and a pre-holiday deal is waiting on North 9th.
Candy Corner (105 Crystal Street, East Stroudsburg). A "Coming Soon!" poster for a candy shop called Candy Corner is now up in the window at 105 Crystal Street. That's the old East Stroudsburg Hardware building, which was damaged by a lightning-sparked fire in September 2023.
The poster shows a three-story storefront trimmed in lights, with striped awnings and windows full of giant swirl lollipops and a candy-cane carousel horse. We don't know yet whether that's the finished look or just a sweet dream, but the inside is further along than the poster lets on. When we peeked in on Sunday, the walls were painted and the counters were built, and the place looked ready to be stocked. No opening date has been announced. It's the latest piece of a broader comeback for downtown East Stroudsburg's Crystal Street, which already has Rare & Rye steakhouse inside the renovated, historic Lackawanna Hotel, plus Bib's Ribs over on Washington Street. We'll pass along details as soon as we have them. If you're reading on Substack, see the pic below! If not, head over to monroeunfiltered.substack.com.
Hair by Maddie Rose (1055 North 9th Street, Stroudsburg). Stylist Maddie Rose opened her own suite inside the My Salon Suite building on North 9th in August, after five years behind the chair, and she is marking her first fall there with a pre-holiday deal: 20% off any appointment booked in October. Her specialties are blondes, dimensional brunettes, and hand-tied extensions, plus haircuts. Grey blending is on the menu too, which around here is less a trend than a public service. You can book online through her Square page (Hair by Maddie Rose) or text 833-433-0667 with questions. She is also posting examples of her work in the Stroudsburg Community Facebook group if you want a look before you commit. The deal kicks in Thursday and runs through the end of October.