Ex-Cop Provided FMS with Community Policing Gear

Ex-cop gets 7-year sentence
By LEO STRUPCZEWSKI
Courier-Post Staff

A 18-year Camden police officer known for his community outreach received seven years in state prison Thursday for conspiring with a second man to rob drug dealers.

Michael Hearne, 43, of Woodbury, pleaded guilty to a second-degree official misconduct charge before Superior Court Judge Stephen M. Holden. As part of the agreement, he will be barred for life from holding public office.

Hearne admitted giving another man a loaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun to rob a drug dealer. The other man was to give the money from the robberies to Hearne, who would launder it. The men would then split the proceeds, he admitted. "(Hearne) took an oath to uphold the law and to protect the people of this state as a police officer," Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a statement. ". . . Nothing could be further from his sworn duty to maintain public safety."

Several charges -- including attempted robbery, money laundering and two counts of conspiracy -- were dropped. The second-degree official misconduct charge was the highest substantive charge Hearne faced.

Hearne's wife, Annie Hearne, 37, also faces third-degree charges of conspiracy to launder money and money laundering. There is an Oct. 18 deadline for her to reach a plea agreement.

Hearne's attorney, Jeffrey Zucker, said his client agreed to the scheme because of "financial pressures." He knew the second man, who has not been identified, from when the man was arrested as a juvenile. The two met on November 10 as part of a New Jersey State Police sting operation. Hearne, who was in uniform, believed the man would be giving him about $75,000. He was suspended from the police department following his arrest.

Hearne will apply for the state's Intensive Supervision Program -- an out-of-prison program that requires community service, a curfew and a job. Zucker said he believes Hearne is working for a construction company and "should be a suitable candidate." He's eligible to join the program after 60 days.

"There's a lot of good deeds behind him," Zucker said.

Prior to his arrest in November, Hearne was appointed the Camden Police Department's chaplain. He was to rally the city's religious organizations for community policing efforts. He had also organized a Mischief Night walk in late October to discourage crime.

That work helped Hearne hold onto a strong reputation despite his allegedly advising convicted drug lord Jose Rivera on how to handle investigators. In a 1997 wiretap, officials captured a conversation between Hearne and Rivera inside an East Camden gym. Investigators had just seized Rivera's boat. Hearne is heard on the tape telling Rivera "Don't do nothing . . . let them come to you." No charges related to Rivera were ever filed against Hearne.