Wally Nance, 47, who was indicted in a case involving Mayor Tony Mack's half-brother, Stanley 'Muscles' Davis more than two years ago in an alleged bribery scheme, had been suspended without pay from the Trenton Water Works while the official misconduct charge was pending
TRENTON - The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office will drop official misconduct charges against a Trenton Water Works employee who was indicted in a sting operation after he was admitted into a pre-trial intervention program on a separate unemployment fraud case.
Wally Nance, 47, who was indicted in a case involving Mayor Tony Mack's half-brother, Stanley "Muscles" Davis more than two years ago in an alleged bribery scheme, had been suspended without pay from the Trenton Water Works while the official misconduct charge was pending.
As part of the pre-trial intervention hearing this morning before Superior Court Judge Mark Fleming, Nance resigned from his job as an equipment operator at the water works effective Nov. 12.
Davis was arrested during a Dec. 6, 2010 raid on the Water Works offices on Courtland Street. It followed a prosecutor's office sting where Davis was caught on tape accepting a cash bribe from an undercover county detective, authorities said.
Charges against Nance did not come until January, when a grand jury indicted him on theft by deception, official misconduct and bribery.
While authorities alleged that Nance did excavation work on a Ewing home where Davis' crew connected the house to city water in exchange for a kickback, Nance was not on the clock at the time.
Davis pleaded guilty in the case in January 2012, was sentenced in September 2012. He is serving a six-year sentence in state prison.
The separate unemployment charge against Nance was filed after the indictment in the Water Works case. Nance admitted he took a job with a private company but was collecting state unemployment benefits at the same time.
As part of the pre-trial intervention program, Nance will have to perform 40 hours of community service, pay back the more than $18,000 of unemployment funds, and is resigning his position at the Water Works.
There is no ban on Nance getting public employment in the future, Fleming said. To the apparent distress of his own public defender, Nance insisted in placing a line in his resignation letter asking the city "keep him in mind" for other job opportunities.
The third defendant in the Water Works case, Robert Keith Williams, pleaded guilty two years ago but has not been sentenced.
Mercer Assistant Prosecutor Jim Scott said in court that he was prepared to take Nance's official misconduct case to trial. Fleming kept a jury on standby through the proceedings in case the deal, which has been delayed several times before, was not accepted.
Nance has not yet been formally cleared in the Water Works case. A status conference in that matter is scheduled for Nov. 21, according to prosecutor's office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio.
"But that case is still pending as of right now," she said.
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