Crime

The retired captain paid thousands of dollars in overtime for the hours he did not work.

A retired Boston Police Department captain was convicted Thursday in federal court in Boston of running an overtime fraud scheme that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to prosecutors.

Richard Evans, 65, of Hanover, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison and two years of supervised release. He must pay restitution of $154,249.20 and a fine of $15,000, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A federal jury convict Evans, in March 2024, of conspiracy to commit theft with respect to programs receiving federal funds, theft with respect to programs receiving federal funds, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

Evans was arrested and charged in March 2021 after an investigation revealed that he and other Boston Police Department officers were sitting on overtime sheets to be paid for numerous hours they did not work.

“Members of law enforcement are expected to follow the law, not break it,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement.

“To anyone who might be tempted to follow a similar path, today’s sentence should send a strong message that police officers who steal taxpayers’ money by fraudulently trying to get paid for hours they do not work will be held accountable and they will face significant sanctions,” he said. he continued.

Evans was a 42-year veteran of the Boston Police Department and one of its highest-ranking officers before he retired shortly after being charged in the case.

From May 2012 to March 2016, Evans was the commander of the department’s Evidence Management and Supply Division, where he oversaw the Evidence Control Unit, which stored and managed all of the police department’s evidence.

The investigation revealed that when the police department’s evidence storage began to overflow, the department authorized an overtime schedule to “purge” old and unnecessary evidence to make room for new evidence. The schedule allowed officers to work up to four hours a day after a regular shift.

For nearly the entire time Evans was in charge of the Evidence Control Unit, Evans and those under his command “abused” the overtime schedule to “unjustly enrich themselves,” the DA’s office said.

The evidence shows that the officers only worked an hour or two overtime, but claimed to have worked four hours. Since overtime is paid at 1.5 times the normal rate of pay, the officers received six hours’ pay for the four hours claimed.

The evidence warehouse is secured and alarmed when officers are not working there. Alarm records show the building was not open for hundreds of hours when Evans and other officers falsely claimed to be working inside.

In addition to his base salary, Evans received more than $120,000 in overtime pay during his nearly four years as evidence control unit commander, including more than $17,000 in overtime pay for hours in that the evidence deposit has not been opened.

Evans’ overtime pay brought his total salary to more than $200,000 for the years between 2013 and 2016.

Public employees convicted of a crime “involving the violation of laws applicable to their office or position” usually become ineligible to receive a pension, according to Massachusetts State Regulations.

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message that public officials who cheat and steal will be held accountable,” Timothy C. Edmiston, special agent in charge of the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Region, said in a statement.

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Beth Treffeisen is a general reporter for Boston.com, focusing on local news, crime and business in the New England region.

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