8th Boston police officer pleads guilty to overtime fraud, 14 overall have been charged
An eighth Boston police officer has pleaded guilty in connection with the feds’ ongoing investigation into overtime fraud at BPD’s evidence warehouse.
Former BPD officer Craig Smalls, 55, of Roxbury, pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $16,000 in OT he did not work.
He 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. Smalls had been charged two weeks ago.
Smalls is now the eighth officer to plead guilty. Overall, 14 BPD officers have been charged in connection with committing OT fraud at the evidence warehouse.
The feds said that from at least March 2015 through September 2016, Smalls submitted false and fraudulent OT slips for hours he did not work for two OT shifts at the evidence warehouse.
The first shift, called “purge” OT, was a 4 to 8 p.m. weekday shift when officers were supposed to dispose of old, unneeded evidence. Smalls claimed to have worked from 4 to 8 p.m., but he routinely left at 6 p.m. or earlier.
The second shift, called “kiosk” OT, involved driving to each police district in Boston one Saturday a month to collect old prescription drugs to be burned. Smalls submitted OT slips claiming to have worked 8.5 hours, when in fact he only worked 3 to 4 hours.
Between March 2015 and September 2016, Smalls collected about $16,252 for OT hours he did not work.
U.S. District Court Allison Burroughs scheduled Smalls’ sentencing for Oct. 21.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3jFwxfr
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