A former Boston Police Sergeant was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with an investigation of overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s (BPD) evidence warehouse.
Gerard O’Brien, 66, of Braintree, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to two years of supervised release with six months to be served in home detention. O’Brien was also ordered to pay $25,930 in restitution and a $5,000 fine.
In June 2021, O’Brien pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds.
From at least December 2016 through February 2019, O’Brien submitted false and fraudulent overtime slips for overtime shifts that he did not work at the evidence warehouse. The “purge” overtime was a 4 – 8 p.m. weekday shift intended to dispose of old, unneeded evidence.
“Kiosk” overtime involved driving to each police district in Boston one Saturday a month to collect old prescription drugs to be burned.
For the “purge” shift, O’Brien claimed to have worked from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., but he and other members of the unit routinely left at 6:00 p.m. or earlier. For the “kiosk” shift, O’Brien submitted overtime slips claiming to have worked eight-and-one-half hours when in fact, he and other members of the unit only worked three to four hours of those shifts.
As a supervisor, O’Brien endorsed fraudulent overtime slips submitted by the officers at the warehouse for those shifts.
Between December 2016 and February 2019, O’Brien personally collected approximately $25,930 for overtime hours he did not work.
To date, over a dozen Boston Police officers have been charged in connection with committing overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse. O’Brien is the seventh officer to be sentenced.
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