A federal judge in Trenton signed an order Tuesday dismissing the final criminal charge against Anthony Villanueva, the former Trenton police officer who has been acquitted twice by juries in separate excessive force cases.
Since 2019, when he was first charged for incidents in 2017, Villanueva steadfastly refused to entertain plea agreement offers from federal prosecutors, saying he was ready for the risk of going to trial and would not bow in his beliefs he did anything wrong.
Now, he is clear of any pending criminal matters.
“I’m happy this nightmare is over,” Villanueva said to NJ Advance Media Tuesday evening. “My family and I have endured a lot over the last seven years. I always had faith that the truth would come to light one day and I would be proven innocent.”
The Trenton Police Department terminated Villanueva in 2018 for his actions in the second, 2017 incident, when he was accused of unlawfully pepper-spraying an inmate in the Trenton police lockup.
He’s been working for a staffing company since his termination, and said of his future plans: “At this point moving forward, I will be speaking with my family as well as my attorney to explore all of my options.”
His attorney, Jerome Ballarotto, rejoiced in the outcome of the case, saying the government rarely loses criminal cases and it’s even harder to beat the feds on five charges in two separate cases. “But they lost this time, and we’re very happy about it.”
Ballarotto added: “The fact of that the matter is, there are times when police officers should be prosecuted for violating citizens’ rights. It just so happens that these were not those cases.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey declined to comment on the case Tuesday.
Villanueva first went to trial in early 2023 with another Trenton police officer, Drew Inman, for their actions during an April 2017 arrest that followed a lengthy police pursuit. That jury acquitted Villanueva of violating the man’s civil rights, and for allegedly filing two false reports about the incident.
The jury acquitted Inman of filing a false report, but was initially hung on the civil rights charge. The judge in the case later acquitted Inman of using excessive force, and he returned to the city force in late 2023.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office then said they would try Villanueva again, for the lockup incident, which occurred in November 2017. That trial started in February and the jury acquitted him on the civil rights charge alleging excessive force, but was hung on the false report charge.
On Tuesday, the judge signed a motion to dismiss that charge, ending the case.
In early 2022, about three years after he was first arrested, and after pandemic delays in the case, Villanueva gave a lengthy interview to NJ Advance Media, in which he discussed the allegations, his readiness for trial to clear his name, and what he believes was disparate treatment in the Trenton police.
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Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com.
