Another turnpike trooper charged in overtime investigation; pleads guilty

Kevin Sweeney, 40, of Braintree, was charged today with one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds and one count of wire fraud in the widening State Police overtime investigation and agreed to plead guilty, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports.

Sweeney, assigned to the increasingly infamous Troop E at the turnpike barracks in Weston, was paid $11,103 for hours for which he submitted time sheets but didn't actually work for two State Police programs aimed at reducing crashes on the turnpike through an increased trooper presence.

The feds were able to get in on the State Police action because one of the programs received $10,000 in federal money. Prosecutors gave as an example a time sheet Sweeney submitted for 7 to 11 p.m. on Dec. 14, 2016:

Sweeney allegedly wrote eight motor vehicle citations during the shift and submitted copies of those citations to MSP as evidence that he had worked. Yet, Sweeney’s cruiser radio was not turned on during the overtime shift, he did not run any driver histories during the shift, and Registry of Motor Vehicle records reflect that none of the motorists that Sweeney claims to have cited actually received a citation that day.

A sentencing date has yet to be set, the US Attorney's office reports.