Former Boston police officer from Taunton sentenced for role in fraudulent overtime scheme

A former Boston police officer who admitted his role in a long-running overtime fraud scheme at the department's evidence warehouse was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Acting Massachusetts, Joshua S. Levy.

Joseph Nee, 50, of Taunton, was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $12,636 in restitution, Levy's office said. In June 2021, Nee pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft relating to programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds.

Between at least January 2015 and August 2017, Nee repeatedly submitted falsified timecards for two overtime shifts that he had not fully worked at the evidence warehouse. The first type of shift Nee claimed to work, known as “purge” overtime, was a 16- to 20-hour weekday shift to clear out old, useless evidence. The second team, known as the “kiosk,” involved going to each police district in the city one Saturday a month to collect old prescription drugs that were then burned, according to Levy's office.

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For the purge shift, Nee claimed to work a full four hours, but usually left two hours early, at 6 p.m., and sometimes even earlier.

During shifts at the kiosk, Nee regularly submitted overtime reports indicating that he had worked eight and a half hours when in reality he had only worked three or four hours on those shifts. Prosecutors say other members of the unit also followed the same practice.

During the period he submitted fraudulent overtime hours, Nee earned approximately $12,636 for overtime hours he did not work, Levy's office said.

Nee was one of 15 officers charged in connection with the evidence warehouse fraud. Ten of the fifteen were found guilty either by guilty plea or jury verdict. Of the remaining police officers charged, four were acquitted in April 2023 and another died while charges were still pending, according to the release.