A state grand jury has indicted a suspended Trenton police officer on 11 charges including accusations he lied about his gang ties on his job application and conspired with a state prisoner in an attack on a witness.
Rudy Lopez, 38, faces charges of conspiracy, official misconduct, records tampering, financial crimes and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, according to the state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, which brought the charges.
Authorities say Lopez abused his post as a Trenton cop to obtain information about the witness, passing along “what he believed to be the victim’s whereabouts to the imprisoned gang member.”
“We allege that the fraudulent statements on the defendant’s job application deceived the Trenton Police Department into allowing someone who was unfit to serve as a police officer onto the force,” said Thomas J. Eicher, head of the OPIA, which investigates government misconduct.
“And once that individual had gained a position of public trust, he allegedly betrayed that trust, by committing crimes and failing to fulfill his duties of upholding and enforcing the law and protecting the community.”
An attorney for Lopez, John S. Furlong, said his client "denies any wrongdoing,” noting that prosecutors took two years to indict his client and had yet to turn over evidence related to the case.
“We look forward to meeting these allegations in court,” Furlong said.
“For now, the best we can tell you is Rudy Lopez served the city honorably and we fully expect to prove that to a jury of his peers.”
Lopez was charged in 2022 with falsifying his job application after state investigators claimed he was “regularly communicating” with an imprisoned member of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation street gang. Police recruits are asked on their job application whether they affiliate with gang members.
At the time, he was already suspended over separate harassment charges involving an incident at an elementary school in Hamilton.
Lopez joined the force in September 2020 and was suspended in June 2022.
In a statement released Tuesday, authorities said Lopez “revealed confidential business” of the Trenton police and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office to the unnamed co-conspirator.
Prosecutors say the pair then “conspired to set up an aggravated assault targeting that victim.”
Their investigation uncovered evidence of other criminal activity, including drug dealing and financial crimes, authorities now claim. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in state prison.
Lopez’s brother, Lisandro Rivera, 40, was also indicted on charges he conspired with the cop to “financially facilitate crimes.” Attorney information for Rivera was not available.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X.
