Did Albano Break the Law in Troopergate?

TRENTON: The ongoing scandal surrounding Democratic Assemblyman Nelson Albano, which has come to be known as “Troopergate,” has taken a new and serious turn. After being ticketed for speeding, Albano sent a letter on his official legislative letter head to the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. In the letter, Albano alleged that the State Trooper had “humiliated, embarrassed and disrespected” him.
Albano claimed the trooper called for backup and two other troopers “blocked me in, one in front and another in the back.” The assemblyman claimed that, despite having a temporary registration in his rear window the trooper “insisted I needed a registration card.” Albano complained that he was “treated like a criminal.”
In his complaint to Colonel Fuentes, the head of the New Jersey State Police, Albano stated, “I am requesting an investigation into this incident and the trooper’s conduct.” Months later, the Newark Star Ledger newspaper obtained the dashboard video of the incident. The video showed the trooper acting professionally and being polite to the assemblyman.
The trooper did nothing to humiliate or embarrass Albano and never insisted that Albano needed a registration card. While other troopers did ask the officer who stopped Albano if he needed help, and one pulled over briefly, never was Albano’s car “blocked in” by two other troopers. The video demonstrated that Albano had made false statements in his complaint to the head of the State Police and the trooper was cleared of any wrongdoing.
The question now is: Did Albano break the law in sending the unfounded complaint to the head of the State Police? New Jersey Criminal Statute 2C:28-4 says that a person commits a crime if he “knowingly gives or causes to be given false information to any law enforcement officer with purpose to implicate another.” The statute also says that anyone who “Reports or causes to be reported to law enforcement authorities an offense or other incident within their concern knowing that it did not occur” is a disorderly person.
The Star Ledger* concluded, “There’s no evidence that there was ever any basis for Albano’s grandiose complaint over the ticket he was given in February — a complaint he withdrew exactly one day after The Star-Ledger’s Christopher Baxter questioned him about it. That didn’t stop the internal investigation from moving forward, though. It put Trooper Randy Pangborn’s career on hold, and ultimately found no wrongdoing on his part — just documented proof of Albano’s arrogant charade.” The video and letter can be viewed at www.arrogantalbano.com.
Law Enforcement Magazine, in an editorial, stated that “The version depicted on the video was nothing like the version described in Albano’s complaint. In fact, it was as if Assemblyman Albano’s letter was describing an entirely different encounter. So, we’re left with two questions: First, where would this trooper be if not for the video?
An accusation made by a person of such high standing would have – at a minimum – caused serious damage to the trooper’s career. The second question is more complicated. Law officers are held to a high standard. The state policy outlining the internal affairs process alone is 119 pages. So, our second question is this: now what?
To what standard are New Jersey legislators held? How many pages are in their internal affairs policy? And what disciplinary action will be taken here? Our guess would be none, zero, and none.”
Media reports have stated that a legislative ethics committee investigation of the incident is pending.
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