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Former police chief sentenced Nucera to serve 28 months for lying to FBI agents By SAM SciArrOTTA
After several delays, former Bordentown Township police chief and administrator Frank Nucera was sentenced last month to 28 months in prison for lying to FBI agents who were questioning him about violating an 18-year-old Black man’s civil rights during a 2016 arrest. Judge Robert Kugler also sentenced Nucera to two years of supervised release. Nucera, 64, was convicted in October of 2019 on one count of making false statements to FBI agents who were
interviewing him about the Sept. 1, 2016 arrest of Timothy Stroye at the Bordentown Ramada. He was also charged by indictment with one count of hate crime assault and one count of deprivation of civil rights—the court declared a mistrial on those charges, though, and retrial has yet to begin. Nucera will not begin to serve his sentence until those charges are resolved. The sentencing comes after a number of postponements. Following Nucera’s conviction, his attorney Rocco Cipparone Jr. requested delays after he said Nucera sustained injuries in a January 2020 car accident—this also resulted in the postponement of Nucera’s retrial. He was set to be sentenced in April of 2021, but the date was once
again moved, this time to May 2021, after a health scare. Nucera was indicted in late 2017 on charges of hate crime assault, deprivation of civil rights and making false statements after he was accused of slamming then-18-year-old Stroye’s head into a door jamb in 2016. He quietly retired in early 2017, before the investigation was made public. A pair of BTPD officers responded to a phone call from a hotel employee, who claimed that two teenagers stayed in a hotel room without paying. The situation escalated into a physical confrontation, and the officers called for backup. Several additional officers, including Nucera, arrived at the scene. According to the complaint, See NUCERA, Page 6
County honors history group 2020 programming earns BHS two awards By SAM SciArrOTTA
Congressman Andy Kim speaks while Bordentown Historical Society co-president Bonnie Goldman looks on at the Clara Barton Schoolhouse rededication ceremony, June 11, 2021. For more photos, turn to Page 8. (Staff photo by Sam Sciarrotta.)
Each year, the Burlington County Division of Parks leads a countywide search for residents, organizations and municipalities that have a passion for history. The History Recognition Program looks to honor those who have taken steps to explore, record and reveal history in unique, engaging and accessible ways—keeping local history alive. This year, the county honored the Bordentown Historical Society, not once, but
twice. “We were grateful for the recognition, not only as a commendation for the volunteers of the Bordentown Historical Society and Building Bridges that put the time and effort, heart and soul, into assembling these events, but, for the opportunity to elevate the visibility on this history,” said BHS director Tim Rollender. Awards are handed out in a number of categories: Published History, Achievement and Leadership, Education, History Project, Historic Site and Organization of the Year. The Bordentown Historical Society’s Untold Stories program won for History Project, which recognizes excellence and innovation in educational programs dedicated to Bur-
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lington County history. The Harrowing History program also received the Education award, which looks to highlight new approaches and perspectives that help expand the scope of the county’s past. “More often than not, people treat history like a collection of facts on a page, or dusty artifacts on a shelf,” said director Kristi Kantorski. “Sure, it’s interesting and telling to see how the pieces fit into a bigger, global historical period. To be able to explore a remarkable episode of our shared history on a personal level with the people that lived it is rare.” Untold Stories is an exhibit and speaker series that took eight months to build, RollenSee AWARDS, Page 7
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