Former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Conspiring to Steal Overtime Funds and Wire Fraud Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts Dateline: Boston, Massachusetts Date: 1 May 2024 Subjects: American Government , Crime

BOSTON – A former Massachusetts State Police (MSP) Sergeant was sentenced yesterday in connection with an overtime scheme dating back to 2015. 

William W. Robertson, 62, of Westborough, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman to three years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Robertson was also ordered to pay restitution of $142,774 and forfeit $32,180. In December 2023, Robertson was convicted of one count of conspiracy, one count of theft concerning a federal program and four counts of wire fraud. 

On April 26, 2024, co-conspirator former MSP Lieutenant Daniel Griffin was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. Griffin was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $329,163, a fine in the amount of $176,700, as well as a $2,100 special assessment. In December 2023, Griffin was convicted of one count of conspiracy, one count of theft concerning a federal program and four counts of wire fraud.

From 2015 through 2018, Griffin, Robertson and other troopers in the Traffic Programs Section at State Police Headquarters in Framingham, conspired to steal thousands of dollars in federally funded overtime by regularly arriving late to, and leaving early from, overtime shifts funded by grants intended to improve traffic safety. 

When the MSP overtime misconduct came to light in 2017 and 2018, Griffin, Robertson and their co-conspirators took steps to avoid detection by shredding and burning records and forms. After an internal inquiry regarding missing forms, Griffin submitted a memo to his superiors that was designed to mislead them by claiming that missing forms were “inadvertently discarded or misplaced” during office moves.  

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts; Christopher A. Scharf, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Chao, Chief of the Public Corruption Unit and Assistant United States Attorney Adam Deitch of the Public Corruption Unit prosecuted the case.

Updated May 1, 2024