Former Boston Police Officer Sentenced for Overtime Fraud

BOSTON – A former Boston Police Officer was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with committing over $20,000 in overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse.

James Carnes, 61, of Canton, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to two years of supervised release, the first six months of which will be served in home detention. Carnes was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $20,106 in restitution. In April 2021, Carnes pleaded guilty 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 July 2016 and February 2019, Carnes submitted false and fraudulent overtime slips for overtime hours that he did not work for two overtime shifts at the evidence warehouse. The first, called “purge” overtime, was a 4-8 p.m. weekday shift intended to dispose of old, unneeded evidence. The second shift, called “kiosk” overtime, involved driving to each police district in Boston one Saturday a month to collect old prescription drugs to be burned.  

For the “purge” shift, Carnes claimed to have worked from 4 – 8 p.m., but he routinely left at 6 p.m., or before. For the kiosk shift, Carnes submitted overtime slips claiming to have worked eight-and-one-half hours, but he only worked three-to-four hours of those shifts.

From 2016 through 2019, BPD received annual benefits from the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Justice in excess of $10,000, which were funded pursuant to numerous federal grants.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohan, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Russell W. Cunningham Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Region made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.