BRIELLE – A former Ocean Township Police Officer has pled guilty to theft and forgery in a scheme to buy a property in Brielle and rip off tenants, officials announced.
Cory R. Cole, 51, of Brielle, pled guilty on March 21 to three counts of third-degree Theft and one count of fourth-degree Forgery. Cole faces probation with 180 days in Monmouth County Correctional Institution. However, the State will recommend non-custodial probation if Cole pays $8,400 in restitution to two separate victims prior to the sentencing date. No victim contact is also part of the agreed deal.
Police said Cole forged a document to secure a $425,000 loan to purchase a property on Borrie Avenue in Brielle in July of 2019.
In addition, Cole kept a tenant’s $4,200 security deposit on a Fisk Avenue property he owned, justifying keeping the security deposit using a forged New Jersey Natural Gas document. He claimed the tenants owed money in unpaid utility bills on the property and providing them with a forged bill.
Bank records revealed that Cole deposited the $4,200 check into a bank account and that within days, he withdrew the bulk of it in cash.
Previously, Cole was indicted for one count of second degree Theft By Deception, two counts of 3rd degree Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition of Property Received, three counts of 4th degree Forgery, and three counts of 4th degree Uttering a Forged Instrument.
Cole was a police officer in Ocean Township (Monmouth County) and resigned after the first set of charges were filed in January of 2020.
Cole is set to be sentenced before Judge Oxley on August 12.
