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Retired Mass. State Trooper Sentenced for Overtime Abuse

By Tom Marino | May 27, 2022
Last Updated: May 27, 2022

WORCESTER – A retired Massachusetts State Trooper avoided prison time when sentenced in federal court on Thursday, May 26, in connection with overtime abuse at the Massachusetts State Police (MSP).

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf sentence Daren DeJong, 60, of Uxbridge, to two years of probation, with the first six months served in home confinement. DeJong must also pay a fine of $5,500 and restitution in the amount of $14,062.

DeJong pleaded guilty in January 2019 to one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds. DeJong, now retired, was a Trooper assigned to Troop E at the Weston barracks.

According to federal prosecutors, DeJong received overtime pay for hours that he either did not actually work at all, or shifts in which he departed one to seven hours early. DeJong concealed the fraud by submitting citations that were issued outside the overtime shift, altered the citations to create the appearance that citations were issued during the overtime shift, and/or submitted citations that were never issued and never took place.

Trooper DeJong earned $200,416 in 2016, which included approximately $68,394 in overtime. Prosecutors say $14,000 was attributable to shifts he left early or did not show up for.

DeJong is the eight and final defendant sentenced in the case involving MSP Troop E overtime abuse.

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