A former Boston Police officer has been handed down a sentence of two years of supervised release, which includes six months of home confinement, for his engagement in overtime fraud. James Carnes, a 61-year-old from Canton, was convicted of swindling over $20,000 from the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse by submitting false overtime claims.
Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton also dictated that Carnes is to pay a $5,000 fine on top of $20,106 in restitution for his misdeeds, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The sentencing comes after Carnes pleaded guilty in April 2021 to one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds.
Between 2016 and 2019, Carnes exploited the system by clocking in overtime hours he never worked. For a weekday shift intended to clear the warehouse of outdated evidence, Carnes would claim to have worked from 4 – 8 p.m. but would leave at 6 p.m. or even earlier. During the monthly Saturday "kiosk" overtime shifts, meant for collecting old prescription drugs from Boston's police districts, he reported working eight-and-a-half hours despite only working three-to-four hours. The federal funding obtained annually by the BPD from the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Justice was over $10,000, making the theft significant due to the amount of federal involvement.
The case was brought to the forefront as a result of the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Region. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, along with Special Agents Jodi Cohan and Russell W. Cunningham made the announcement. According to a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of the Criminal Division was responsible for prosecuting Carnes in this case.
