Judge delays sentencing for ex-Bordentown Township police chief due to ‘serious medical issues’

Citing “serious medical issues,” a federal judge on Thursday postponed sentencing for former Bordentown Township Police Chief Frank Nucera Jr. in a 2019 hate-crime conviction.

U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler granted a request by defense attorney Rocco Cipparone seeking a delay because Nucera is suffering from undisclosed medical conditions. Nucera was hospitalized for nine days in February and is seeking treatment with specialists, the judge said.

“I do believe that he is not, at this point, physically well enough to continue,” Kugler said during a brief conference call Thursday.

Nucera, 64, was scheduled for sentencing April 16 on a count of lying to the FBI in the civil rights case that made national headlines. Kugler rescheduled sentencing for May 13 at 9:30 a.m.

» READ MORE: Jury finds former N.J. police chief guilty of lying to FBI (from October 2019)

Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Lorber said the proceeding had already been postponed several times and opposed Cipparone’s latest request for another delay. Kugler said prosecutors could have Nucera examined by their own physicians.

During the conference call, few details were disclosed about Nucera’s medical problems because of confidentiality laws. Kugler said that Nucera’s condition was considered “life-threatening” in February but that is no longer the case.

Nucera, who remains free on bail, could face up to five years in prison. A date has not been set for a retrial on two remaining hate-crime charges in the case.

“There is a public interest in this case. This cannot go indefinitely. There has to be some finality,” Kugler said.

Kugler said the federal courthouse in Camden, closed for a year because of the pandemic, has reopened. The first criminal trial has been scheduled there in June, he said.

Nucera was charged with civil rights violations in a Sept. 1, 2016, incident at a Ramada Inn in Bordentown Township. Prosecutors alleged Nucera had a history of spewing racial hatred, including speaking about wanting to join a firing squad to mow down Black people and comparing them to ISIS.

During the trial, jurors heard Nucera on a recording telling a fellow officer that then-President Donald Trump was “the last hope for white people.” They also heard secretly made recordings that captured Nucera using slurs against Blacks, Mexicans, and Asians.

In October 2019, a jury convicted Nucera on the lying charge. The panel of nine white and three Black members was deadlocked on one count each of hate-crime assault and civil rights violations. Kugler declared a mistrial.

» READ MORE: Jury foreman in deadlocked trial of N.J. ex-police chief: ‘We realized we just weren’t going to get anywhere’ (from October 2019)

Nucera resigned from the police force in January 2017 when he learned he was under investigation by federal authorities for using excessive force.

If convicted on the remaining two charges, he could face up to 20 years in prison and lose his $8,800-a-month pension. He earned $155,444 a year as both police chief and township administrator.