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4 Boston police officers acquitted of overtime pay scam
Defense attorneys successfully argued that the officers' actions were standard practice at the police department.
A jury found four Boston police officers accused of running an overtime pay scam not guilty of embezzlement charges Thursday, The Boston Globe reported.
Federal prosecutors had accused Timothy Torigian, Robert Twitchell, Henry Doherty, and Kendra Conway of stealing from the city by filing overtime slips for hours they didn’t work, netting them thousands of dollars, the Globe reported.
The defense argued that the officers were following standard department practices.
The trial centered around whether it was normal department policy for officers working at the evidence control unit to be paid for full four- or eight-hour overtime shifts when they were allowed to leave after just an hour or two, the Globe reported.
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The defendants did not deny that they were paid for hours they didn’t work, but argued that the conduct was illegal.
Federal prosecutors argued that the officers used this “scheme” to make extra money for less work, the Globe reported. The defense made the case that they were following longstanding department practices that were accepted by the heads of the department.
“Not a superintendent, not a deputy superintendent, and certainly not the commissioner ever told them there was anything inappropriate or incorrect about those practices,” defense attorney Robert Goldstein told the jury.
Federal prosecutors did not comment on the trial to the Globe Thursday.
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Torigian, 57, of Walpole; Twitchell, 61, of Norton; Doherty, 64, of Dorchester; and Conway, 52, of Boston; were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit embezzlement and embezzlement in 2020, along with 11 other former and current Boston police officers. Prosecutors added a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for these four officers earlier this year.
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The indictment came during a year when many were calling for police reform, and in the wake of the State Police overtime scandal.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration has since tried to reform the Boston police overtime system during contract negotiations with the biggest Boston police union. When it became clear the two parties could not reach an agreement, the parties moved toward arbitration.
Twitchell and Doherty are now retired, Conway has been suspended by the department, and Torigan resigned after the indictment, the Globe reported.
Of the remaining 11, nine have pleaded guilty to the charges and are awaiting sentencing, one retired officer died last year while the charges were pending, and one is awaiting trial, the Globe reported.
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