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Robert G. Trocolor, 64, tried to cover up his theft during a civil trial earlier this year by producing a bogus letter he claimed was written and signed by his then-late mother, Mildred, authorities said. A handwriting expert quickly shot it down, though.
Superior Court Judge Robert Contillo ordered Trocolor to repay the money to his sister and co-executor of his mother’s estate, but he never did, said Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli, whose detectives arrested Trocolor this morning.
Over the course of three years, the prosecutor said, Trocolor “took out three reverse mortgages on his mother’s home and withdrew about $248,676 of which he used to pay off credit card debt, make home improvements on his home and [pay] for his children’s college tuition.”
Then, after she died of cancer in April 2008, Trocolor “took his mother’s New Jersey Homestead Rebate check, in the amount of $1,577.94, and deposited it into his bank account,” Molinelli said. “Those funds were then used for his personal benefit.”
Then, just about a year ago, Trocolor’s sister got a letter saying that $591,189.65 was due on the trio of reverse mortgages.
The bank foreclosed and took the Franklin Lakes house, and the sister took him to court.
The elder Trocolor was the third head coach in the history of William Paterson University’s Pioneers football team, although he served for only a year before moving to Stetson University. Both teams had losing seasons.
Trocolor played college football for the Long Island Blackbirds before transferring to Alabama to play for the Crimson Tide.
Although he went undrafted in 1942, he had what’s commonly known as a “cup of coffee” with the major league, signing with the Giants and playing two seasons as a backup quarterback, halfback and punt returner, with very little action.
He was then traded to the Brooklyn Tigers and played in only two games before he become a movie actor. He died in 1984.
Given the circumstances, Molinelli’s office had cause to take the case against the younger Trocolor criminal.
Trocolor, who is married and unemployed, is charged with second-degree theft, as well as forgery and other counts, the prosecutor said.
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