Probation Officer From Union County Indicted On Bribery Charges

By MICHELLE SAHN (Patch Staff)

June 26, 2015

A state probation officer, who worked in Middlesex County, was indicted Friday on charges that she took bribes from a defendant who was on probation, authorities said.

Rhonda Battle, 46, of Roselle was charged with two counts of official misconduct, one count of engaging in a pattern of official misconduct and three counts of bribery, all second-degree offenses, according to a news release from Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey.

She took more than $200 on various occasions between January 1, 2014 and December 23, 2014 from a defendant who was serving a probationary term for drug offenses, according to the news release.

Battle took that money to “ensure the defendant passed drug testing and would not be found in violation of the conditions of a court-ordered probationary term,” the news release said.

Battle was assigned to work with defendants who had been admitted to the state Superior Court’s Drug Court program at the courthouse in New Brunswick, authorities said.

Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Christine D’Elia presented the case to a grand jury in Union County, where it was assigned to Union County to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Battle was initially charged on Dec. 23 after an investigation by Detective Nicholas Chiorello of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Chiorello of the Middlesex at (732) 745-3848.