SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — A former South Jersey police chief who was convicted of lying to the FBI during a hate crime investigation will keep his pension after a state appellate court overturned a previous ruling.
The court ruled that former Bordentown Police Chief Frank Nucera Jr.’s conviction of lying in statements made to the FBI was not the same as an official misconduct conviction, which would justify pension forfeiture.
In the decision, the judge said the false statements do not include elements that are essential to establishing official misconduct, because lying to police is not the same as lying under oath.
New Jersey’s attorney general sought to strip Nucera of his pension after he was convicted in 2019 of lying to the FBI about his actions during the arrest of a Black teenager in 2016. During the arrest, Nucera allegedly slammed the handcuffed victim’s head into a door jamb.
Nucera retired in 2017 while the investigation was ongoing, ending his 34-year career.
He was found guilty of lying to the FBI about the incident. However, the jury failed to reach a verdict on two hate crime-related charges in 2019, and again in 2021. Prosecutors ultimately dropped those charges.
Nucera served 13 months in jail. He was released in 2023 after an appeal.