Former Massachusetts State Trooper Pleads Guilty to Overtime Fraud

Four defendants implicated thus far in investigation of overtime abuse

BOSTON – A former Massachusetts State Trooper pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with the ongoing investigation of overtime abuse at the Massachusetts State Police (MSP).

Per an agreement unsealed today, Gregory Raftery, 47, of Westwood, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzling funds from a state agency receiving federal funds. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for Sept. 25, 2018. On June 26, 2018, Raftery was charged by Information which was unsealed today.

At the plea hearing, Raftery admitted that in 2015 and 2016, he was not present and did not work for hundreds of hours of overtime shifts for which he had been paid by the Massachusetts State Police. Raftery admitted that he frequently left overtime shifts early, and, on occasion, did not work overtime shifts at all. To hide this conduct, Raftery submitted bogus motor vehicle citations that were never issued to operators, and then claimed on the citations and internal MSP paperwork that they had been written during overtime shifts that, in reality, Raftery did not work.   

Raftery acknowledged that in 2015 he was paid over $24,000, and in 2016, he was paid over $30,000 for overtime hours that he did not work. 

On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, three members of the MSP – two recently retired and one recently suspended – were arrested and charged in criminal complaints with embezzling funds from a state agency receiving federal funds. Former Lieutenant David Wilson, 57, of Charlton; Trooper Gary Herman, 45, of Chester; and Former Trooper Paul Cesan, 50, of Southwick, pleaded not guilty during an initial appearance in federal court in Boston and are scheduled to appear for a detention/probable cause hearing on Tuesday, July 10, 2018.

The charge of embezzling funds from a state agency receiving federal 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. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Douglas Shoemaker, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Chao and Mark Grady of Lelling’s Public Corruption Unit and Neil Gallagher of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit are prosecuting the case.