The retired chief of the Bordentown Township Police Department was sentenced to 28 months in prison for lying to FBI agents who were questioning him about violating an 18-year-old man’s civil rights during an arrest.
Frank M. Nucera Jr., 64, of Bordentown,, was convicted in October 2019 of one count of making false statements to FBI agents who were interviewing him about an arrest that occurred on Sept. 1. 2016, according to information provided by Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig.
Nucera is also charged by indictment with one count of hate crime assault and one count of deprivation of civil rights under color of law; a mistrial was declared on those counts, and he is awaiting retrial.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial, on Sept. 1, 2016, two Bordentown Township police officers responded to a phone call from the Bordentown Ramada, complaining that two teenagers had stayed in a room at the hotel without paying. The teens were listed in the indictment as “Civilian 1,” an 18-year-old African American teenager, and “Civilian 2,” a 16-year-old African American girl, according to the statement.
After the officers arrived and questioned the teenagers, the situation allegedly escalated into a physical confrontation, with both teens attempting to resist arrest. The officers called for backup, and numerous officers, including then-Chief Nucera, arrived on the scene, according to the statement.
After Civilian 1 was handcuffed and was being escorted out of the hotel by police, Nucera allegedly approached him from behind and slammed the teenager’s head into a metal doorjamb. During a video recorded interview by FBI special agents, Nucera falsely stated multiple times that he did not touch Civilian 1 during the arrest, according to the statement.
In addition to the prison term, Kugler sentenced Nucera on May 26 to two years of supervised release.
He also ordered that Nucera will not begin serving his sentence until the remaining counts are resolved.