Lawyer acquitted in claimed cover-up of school board member's free-lunch application
The first of two lawyers to go to trial in a criminal corruption case over a claimed cover-up of a New Jersey school board member’s free-lunch application won a resounding victory on Tuesday.
Following a five-week trial, it took the jury less than an hour of deliberation to decide to acquit former Elizabeth school board attorney Kirk Nelson on all charges, according to NJ Advance Media, NJToday.net and PolitickerNJ.
That means Nelson, 48, can also expect the Elizabeth Board of Education to reimburse his defense fees, according to attorney Timothy Donohue, who represents Nelson.
“This is not a case where the jury simply found my client not guilty because the state did not have enough proof,” Donohue told NJ Advance Media. “This was the jury saying that Mr. Nelson was completely innocent of these charges. And everyone who sat through his trial for the last five weeks knew that.”
The state attorney general’s office prosecuted the case. It is disappointed at the result of the trial, but respects the jury verdict, a spokesman said.
Nelson and another former school board lawyer, Frank Capece, 64, were charged with conspiracy, tampering with public records and hindering prosecution records. Prosecutors had accused the two attorneys of orchestrating a cover-up scheme. The state comptroller had subpoenaed all records concerning the federally subsidized school lunch program as far back as 2004, after allegations emerged that dozens of school district employees and their families were falsely claiming eligibility for the free lunch program. In addition to feeding their children for free, such fraudulent applications would also make the schools eligible for greater funding based on the number of needy children in their district. An earlier story from the Star-Ledger explains the results of the comptroller’s invesitgation in detail.
Instead of providing records for one then-school board member Juan Donoso and his wife, prosecutors contend, the two lawyers had the couple’s lunch applications pulled, changed from “free” to “paid” status and then, once the subpoenaed material had been provided, returned to district records. Donoso is still facing charges.
Capece has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to be tried later this month.
Despite Nelson’s trial win, the case has been a nightmare for him, Donohue told NJToday.net. He said the prosecution had bankrupted his client, cost him his job and destroyed his reputation.
“The only thing that kept him going was his family and his faith in God,” Donohue said.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Parents and lawyers scrutinized in claimed free-lunch scheme for kids of school district insiders”
NJ Advance Media: “Lawyer on trial faces charges from Elizabeth school ‘free lunch’ scandal”
NJToday.net: “Inside the free lunch scandal lawyers’ cases”
