Theft/Property — Paulsboro, NJ — reported 2026-07-15
SUMMARY
James Patten is asking a judge to give him no prison time despite having a prior felony conviction.
KEY FACTS
- Incident type: Theft/Property
- Location: Paulsboro, NJ
- Date reported: 2026-07-15
- Suspect: not stated
REPORTED DETAILS
- Patten, Peter Coker Sr., and Peter Coker Jr. schemed to artificially boost the share prices of two thinly traded companies.
- One of the companies, Hometown International, owned just one small, money-losing deli in Paulsboro, New Jersey — Your Hometown Deli.
- Patten was convicted in an unrelated mail fraud case in 2010 and sentenced to 27 months in prison.
- Prosecutors asked Judge Christine O'Hearn to sentence Patten to between 12 and 18 months when she sentences him on July 21.
- The market capitalization of both companies at one point exceeded $100 million.