FREEHOLD – A former Ocean Township police officer has been sentenced to three years of probation for theft and forgery for his former part-time work flipping and renting out houses, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Cory R. Cole, 52, of Brielle, was sentenced Thursday after paying $8,400 in restitution to two victims.
In March, Cole pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree theft and one count of fourth-degree forgery, taking a plea deal that would leave him facing 180 days in Monmouth County Jail. He avoided the jail time by paying the restitution, a news release from the prosecutor’s office said.
Cole was indicted in June 2021 on nine counts, including several theft and forgery charges and a theft by deception charge.
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An initial investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office discovered that Cole — who resigned from the police department after first being charged in 2020 — had forged a letter from his former matrimonial attorney, falsely stating that a judgment she made against him for unpaid attorney’s fees had been taken care of. He then turned in the letter to get a $425,000 loan, using the money to later purchase a property on Borrie Avenue in Brielle, the release said.
Further investigation proved that Cole also illegally collected $4,200 in security deposits from tenants at two properties on Fisk Avenue in Brielle, the release said. He tried justifying the collections by claiming the tenants owed money for utilities, providing the tenants with a forged bill that showed an outstanding balance from New Jersey Natural Gas.
Bank records revealed that Cole put one of the $4,200 checks into an account and cashed most of it within days.
After residency inquiries from the Brielle School District came in about the tenant’s children, Cole gave the district a forged lease that said the tenant had moved to another one of his properties in Brielle, the release said, which was actually being rented by someone else.
The tenant’s move-in date was repeatedly pushed back, authorities said, and they never moved in at all.
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During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, the victims said they had trusted Cole partially because they knew he had worked as a police officer, the statement said.
“Sworn members of law enforcement are rightfully supposed to be held to a higher standard of conduct, not only on the job, but off — and this defendant’s actions were reflective of a troubling ease and willingness to lie, cheat and steal from the very people who relied on him for the basic need of housing,” Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey said in the press release.
Linskey also stated that Cole’s actions do not reflect the majority of officers in the county.
Cole’s case was prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Melanie Falco and presided over by state Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley.
Jenna Calderón covers breaking news and cold cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before coming to the Press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Contact her at 330-858-5874; [email protected]