Not in a roundabout way: Repeated prison delays for rogue ex-cop Nucera unacceptable

There should be a name to describe this, 2 1/2 frustrating years into it now. The best I can come up with without using words unacceptable by this news organization is this:

The Frank Nucera Jr. Roundabout.

Except on this Jersey traffic circle, there are no off ramps to justice. The road loops round and round, dizzyingly, perpetually, year after year, leading not to a prison cell, but frustratingly back to where it began: to the sustaining of a rogue cop’s freedom.

Here we are again, back to where we can’t believe we are. Disgraced and former Bordentown Township Police Chief Frank Nucera, Jr., is not headed to a Kentucky prison on Jan. 19 to begin serving a 28-month sentence for lying to the FBI during a hate-crime investigation about him slamming a handcuffed Black teenage suspect’s head into a metal doorjamb at a Bordentown motel in 2016. The reason for the delay: Nucera is ill. Again. And again. This time, it’s COVID. And blood clots. And respiratory problems. Appointments with a hematologist. Appointments with a cardiologist. A dirty ex-cop with a monopoly on playing his get out of jail free cards.

Two years ago, Nucera's excuse was that he was recovering from injuries from a car accident, and because of the coronavirus pandemic. What malady might be next to delay putting Nucera behind bars? Croup? Gout? Alice in Wonderland Syndrome? (It’s real; look it up). Are claims of pregnancy on the table? Why not? We’re coming up on three years since Nucera was sentenced to prison, yet he’s still free, speaking of miracles.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler granted Nucera’s request to delay reporting to prison until April 30. But hizzoner's patience is running thin — he told Nucera’s lawyer, Rocco Cipparone,Jr., further delays would not be acceptable.

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So, I wonder: If Nucera comes back to the judge with yet another doctor’s excuse in April, what does Kugler do then that he didn’t do now? Does he ship him off to prison anyway, and, if so, why wouldn’t he have decided that now? If he grants yet another delay, well, let’s just send the 64-year-old Nucera to Disney World and forget the whole thing.

Cipparone told the court Nucera has significant health concerns, that sending him to prison now may “endanger his health and potentially his life.” Ironic that such a consideration was not given to suspect Timothy Stroye when Nucera, who has a documented history of making derogatory comments about Blacks, including “they have no value” and that he would like to join a firing squad to “mow them down,” slammed the restrained teen’s head against metal.

Cipparone pointed out to Kugler that the infection rate at the prison where Nucera was scheduled to report increased by 275% in the past two weeks, and that Kentucky’s vaccination rate is 54%, among the lowest in the country. Nucera is vaccinated and boosted. If the concern is his access to medical care for his blood clots or whatever else he may have, why not have him incarcerated at a different facility, like The Federal Medical Center, in Lexington, Kentucky. The prison is equipped to address inmates requiring medical or mental health care. Additionally, it holds inmates of all security classifications, including rogue cops whose concern may be having to look over their shoulder for 28 months. Should Nucera require immediate medical attention in the joint, the response in Lexington would presumably be immediate, as opposed to if he would become ill at home watching TV and sipping tea with his feet up.

As the Nucera Roundabout remains open for business, we, much like Nucera himself, are also sick.

Sick of waiting for justice.

Phil Gianficaro, a columnist for the USA TODAY Network, can be reached at 215-345-3078, pgianficaro@theintell.com, and @philgianficaro on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Repeated delays for rogue ex-cop Nucera unacceptable