Former Ocean Township cop who flipped homes in Brielle pleads guilty to forgery and theft

FREEHOLD - A former Ocean Township police officer from Brielle who flipped and rented homes in the borough admitted in court Monday that he forged documents to get a loan and stole money from tenants by keeping their security deposits.

Cory R. Cole, 51, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and one count of forgery before Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Superior Court, Freehold.

Each theft charge carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison; the forgery charge, 18 months.

Under the terms of the plea bargain, Cole faces 180 days in Monmouth County Jail but can avoid the stint behind bars if he pays $4.200 in restitution to each of two victims before sentencing, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said in a written statement.

The plea deal also bars him from contacting the victims.

He is due to be sentenced on Aug. 12.

Cole was indicted in June 2021 on nine counts that included one count of theft by deception, and several theft and forgery charges. The theft by deception charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in state prison if there’s a conviction.

The five outstanding charges in the indictment will be dropped at sentencing under the terms of the plea deal.

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Investigators found that Cole forged a letter from his former matrimonial attorney to make it look like a court judgment the lawyer won against him for unpaid attorney’s fees had been satisfied so he could get a $425,000 loan to buy property in Brielle, Linskey said.

Cole also pocketed two $4,200 security deposits from tenants at two different properties in Brielle, she said.

He claimed his tenants on Fisk Avenue owed him money for unpaid utility bills that he backed up with a forged bill from New Jersey Natural Gas that showed a false outstanding balance, Linskey said.

He cashed out most of the other $4,200 security deposit from a woman with children looking to rent a Borrie Avenue property instead of holding it in his bank account as required, she said.

Cole also delayed the family's move-in date repeatedly, and they ended up not moving in at all, authorities said.

Investigators also found out that Cole had sent the Brielle School District a forged lease agreement in connection with the rental transaction so the would-be tenant's children could attend school there, Linskey said.

Cole, an 18-year veteran officer, resigned from the Ocean Township Police Department after first being charged in 2020. The plea agreement also forbids him from becoming a police officer or accepting public employment in New Jersey again, a prosecutor’s office spokesman said.

Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news, investigations and local issues. Reach him at kserrano@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ocean Township NJ: Former police officer admits to stealing