Former Ocean Township Cop Sentenced To Probation After Paying Scam Victims Back

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Brielle man who resigned from his police job in Ocean Township will spend three years on probation after paying two victims the money he admitted to scamming them out of.

Cory R. Cole, 51, pleaded guilty in March to three counts of theft and one count of forgery. Under the plea agreement, Cole could avoid jail time if he paid $8,400 restitution to two victims. Read More: Ex-Cop From Monmouth County Pleads Guilty To Theft Charges: Cops

Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley sentenced Cole to three years' probation Friday.

The victims in the case said they trusted Cole because they knew he worked as a police officer, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said. Cole had a side business flipping and renting properties in Brielle.

“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,” Linskey said. “His actions were not reflective of the overwhelming majority of responsible and dedicated police officers across the county, yet they nonetheless necessitated appropriate repercussions.”

The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office discovered that Cole forged documents to secure a loan and stole money from tenants by keeping their security deposits.

Investigators found that Cole had forged a letter from his former matrimonial attorney to make it appear that a court judgment the lawyer won against him for unpaid attorney's fees had been satisfied.

Cole did this so he could get a $425,000 loan to purchase property in Brielle, Linskey said.

Cole also illegally retained two $4,200 security deposits from tenants at different properties in Brielle, police said.

Cole claimed that his Fisk Avenue tenants owed him money for unpaid utility bills, which he supported with a forged New Jersey Natural Gas bill that showed a false outstanding balance.
The other tenant, a woman with children, signed a lease to rent a property on Borrie Avenue and was never able to move in; Cole spent the majority of her $4,200 deposit, authorities said.

Further investigation revealed that Cole, in order to satisfy the Brielle School District's residency inquiries regarding the woman's children, wrote a forged lease to the school district indicating that the victim had moved into a different property that he owned in Brielle.

Cole resigned from the Ocean Township Police Department after first being charged in 2020, Linskey said.

Cole was originally charged with nine counts in June 2021, including one count of theft by deception and several theft and forgery charges. Theft by deception carries a maximum ten-year prison sentence.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the five outstanding charges in the indictment were dismissed at sentencing.