MAHWAH, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Disgraced former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik spoke Wednesday to nearly 100 police recruits in New Jersey about his career and downfall.

Kerik told the recruits at the Bergen County Police Academy that they are no longer regular citizens, The Record reported. He said they will be judged and scrutinized to a higher standard.

“To hear it from me is probably far more profound for them,” Kerik told the newspaper.

He was not paid for the appearance, The Record reported.

Kerik spent three years at a federal minimum-security prison for tax fraud and making a false statement. The charges stemmed from allegations that he knowingly paid on only $30,000 for renovations worth between $165,000 and $255,000 while a city official.

He served as a sheriff’s officer and then warden at the Passaic County Jail before joining the NYPD in 1986.

After being released from prison in May 2013, Kerik called for reforms to federal mandatory sentencing guidelines.

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