BOSTON (WHDH) - A suspended state trooper agreed to plead guilty Friday for being paid more than $11,000 for overtime hours he didn’t work, officials said.
Kevin Sweeney, 40, of Braintree, agreed to plead guilty to one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds and one count of wire fraud, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling’s Office. A court date has not been set.
Prosecutors say Sweeney was stationed at Troop E, which was disbanded earlier this year amid an investigation into overtime abuse, and earned $249,407 int 2015, which included approximately $111,808 in overtime pay.
In 2016, Sweeney earned $218,512, which included approximately $95,895 in overtime pay.
Sweeney was allegedly paid for overtime shifts that he either did not work at all or from which he left early and concealed the crime by issuing fraudulent citations designed to create the appearance that he had worked the hours, according to Lelling’s statement.
Sweeney is the sixth trooper charged as a result of the ongoing investigation.
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.
In a statement Friday afternoon, state police spokesman David Procopio said, “Under the leadership of Colonel Gilpin, the State Police will continue to audit earnings from discretionary overtime and, as we did in the case resolved today, provide results to federal and state prosecutors. Any felony conviction of a department member disqualifies them from service as a state trooper.”
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