BOSTON (WHDH) - Another retired Massachusetts State Police trooper was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in connection with the ongoing investigation of overtime abuse within the department.
Daren DeJong, 56, of Uxbridge, was indicted on one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds. DeJong, who is retired, was previously charged by a criminal complaint and arrested on July 25.
DeJong was assigned to the now disbanded Troop E, which was responsible for enforcing criminal law and traffic regulations along the Massachusetts Turnpike.
He allegedly received overtime pay for hours that he either did not actually work at all or shifts in which he departed one to seven hours early, according to court documents.
Under department rules, DeJong was required to work the entire duration of the shifts – either four or eight hours – and truthfully report the date, time and sector of deployment on the citations issued during the shift.
DeJong allegedly concealed the fraud by submitting citations that were issued prior to the overtime shift, altered the citations to create the appearance that citations were issued during the overtime shift, and submitted citations that were never issued and never took place, documents indicate.
He earned $200,416 in 2016, which included approximately $68,394 in overtime, of which more than $14,000 was said to be attributable to falsified records.
In June, former Lieutenant David Wilson, suspended trooper Gary Herman and former trooper Paul Cesan, were arrested and charged with the same crime. Former trooper Gregory Raftery pleaded guilty to the charge in July and in August, suspended trooper Kevin Sweeney was charged and agreed to plead guilty.
In March, the department announced an investigation into the apparent overtime abuse and said 21 troopers assigned to Troop E were being looked at. That number has since grown to more than 40.
The charge of theft of government funds provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss.
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