Retired MSP trooper loses SJC appeal to keep his pension

A former Massachusetts State trooper who ripped off taxpayers in the Troop E overtime scandal lost his bid before the state’s highest court to regain his pension.

Retired Trooper Gregory Raftery joined the force in 1996 and retired in 2018 at age 47, racking up more than 21 years of eligible service for the agency’s pension plan, which benefited him to more than $72,000 per year, according to court records.

But just months after his retirement he pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to overtime fraud — making him ineligible for pension benefits according to Massachusetts state law.

That’s how the Retirement Board and a District Court saw the issue. On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reviewed Raftery’s appeal and agreed, upholding those prior rulings.

“In no event shall any member after final conviction of a criminal offense involving violation of the laws applicable to his office or position, be entitled to receive a retirement allowance … nor shall any beneficiary be entitled to receive any benefits under such provisions on account of such member,” the applicable law states.

An accounting of his pension showed a total balance of $1.025 million, according to the SJC decision.

Raftery argued that being deprived of his pension was both “an excessive fine and cruel or unusual punishment” based on the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. SJC Justice Scott L. Kafker disagreed with both arguments, ruling that the pension loss was a fine but was not excessive, and that the “cruel and unusual” claim was without merit.

The fraud

Raftery was a member of MSP Troop E, which oversaw the Massachusetts turnpike. He was eligible for overtime shifts in the Accident Injury Reduction Effort (AIRE) and the X-Team programs.

Under agency rules, Raftery could only work these overtime shifts after completing his regular eight-hour shift, or by using earned time off to cover for any of those hours.

Overtime hours for those shifts were paid for, at least in part, by the U.S. Department of Transportation, making fraudulent use of the funds a federal issue.

In each of the years federal prosecutors focused on, 2015 and 2016, Raftery took home more than $80,000 in such overtime money. In 2015, according to documents in his federal court case, Raftery made $202,769, including about $82,514 in overtime pay. In 2016 he made $219,669, of which $87,607 was overtime.

In 2015, Raftery claimed more than 140 AIRE overtime shifts, according to federal charging documents, which would mean a total of 560 hours of overtime based on the four-hour shifts. He claimed 150 such shifts the next year, meaning 600 hours of overtime.

Federal prosecutors proved that he would often leave those shifts early — maybe after an hour, maybe after three hours — or didn’t actually work them at all. He hid his ruse by filing fake traffic citations making it look like he was working those hours.

In pleading guilty, Raftery admitted to receiving more than $24,000 in 2015 and $30,000 in 2016 for bogus shifts.

Then-Gov. Charlie Baker disbanded Troop E in 2018 after investigations began to point to widespread wrongdoing.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/DnGERNk