WEEHAWKEN Former Township Police Sgt. Patrick Cannon was to be sentenced today for stealing as much as $700,000 in township funds but the sentencing has been delayed about two weeks, officials said.
The nearly 20-year veteran of the police department was charged in June, only weeks after his apparent suicide attempt triggered a frantic search for him in a Bergen County park.
The Rochelle Park resident pleaded guilty to theft of more than $75,000, and official misconduct, before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mary Costello in December.
The theft charge carries a possible sentence of five to 10 years, but under the plea deal he is expected to get five years with a two-year minimum, officials said.
Prosecutors will ask the judge to order Cannon to pay $700,000 in restitution. He has already been fired and as part of the plea deal he will never be able to hold a public job again.
Cannon was tasked with making purchases of police equipment and goods and services for construction projects at Township Hall and at the Police Department.
Cannon was to be sentenced today by Costello but she no longer presides over criminal matters. His sentencing has been moved to the court of Hudson County Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre and is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 24 in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City.