Ex-Boston Police evidence warehouse commander sentenced to federal prison in OT scandal

The retired captain earned thousands of dollars in overtime pay for hours he did not work.

Retired Boston Police Capt. Richard Evans leaves Moakley Federal Court.

John Tlumacki for the Boston Globe

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, prosecutors said.

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 fines of $15,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.

A federal grand jury convicted Evans in March 2024 of conspiracy to commit theft related to programs receiving federal funds, theft related to programs receiving federal funds, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

Evans was arrested and charged in March 2021 after an investigation found that he and other Boston police officers were lying on their overtime slips to get paid for many hours they did not work.

“Members of law enforcement are expected to uphold 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 verdict should send a strong message that police officers who steal taxpayers’ money by fraudulently trying to get paid for hours they don’t work will be held accountable and face significant penalties,” 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 this case.

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

The investigation found that when the police department’s evidence warehouse began to overflow, the department approved an overtime program to “purge” old and unnecessary evidence to make room for new evidence. The program allowed officers to work up to four hours daily after a regular shift.

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

Evidence shows that officers only worked one or two hours of overtime but claimed they worked four hours. Since overtime is paid at 1.5 times the regular wage, the officers received six hours’ pay for the four hours requested.

The evidence warehouse is secured and alerted when police 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 over $120,000 in overtime pay during his nearly four years as commander of the Evidence Control Unit, including over $17,000 in overtime pay for hours the evidence warehouse was not open.

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

Public employees convicted of a crime “involving a violation of the laws applicable to his or her office or position” also typically 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 for the Mid-Atlantic Region, said in a statement.