Mass. State Police supervisors convicted of fraud for overtime scheme

A Worcester federal jury has found two former Massachusetts State Police troopers guilty of conspiracy and fraud in connection with an overtime pay scheme, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Former Sgt. William Robertson, 61, of Westborough, and former Lt. Daniel Griffin, 60, of Belmont, were each convicted of one count of conspiracy, one count of theft concerning a federal program and four counts of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. They were indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2020.

As a result, from 2015 through 2017, Griffin made just under $675,000 in yearly salary, overtime and other benefits.

From 2015 through 2018, Griffin, Robertson and other troopers at state police headquarters in Framingham conspired to steal thousands of dollars in overtime pay, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. They did so by regularly arriving late to, and leaving early from, overtime shifts.

The troopers involved in the scheme were part of the state police traffic division, and the overtime shifts were funded by federal grants intended to improve traffic safety, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. As part of the scheme, Griffin made and approved false entries on forms and other documentation to conceal and perpetuate the fraud.

When the overtime scheme came to light a few years ago, Griffin, Robertson and their co-conspirators tried to hide their misconduct by shredding and burning internal records, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

At one point, state police leadership inquired about the missing forms, and Griffin reacted by submitting a memo claiming the forms were “inadvertently discarded or misplaced” during office moves.

Additionally, Griffin often spent hours during which he was making regular state police and overtime pay running his security business, Knight Protection Services (KnightPro), the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Despite making nearly $2 million in KnightPro revenue from 2012 to 2019, he also hid over $700,000 of that income from the IRS.

In a separate case last month, Griffin pleaded guilty to defrauding a private school two of his children attended, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. He did so by concealing his KnightPro income and filing financial aid applications which understated his income and assets by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As a result, he received over $175,000 in financial aid over several years.

Sentencing for Griffin and Robertson is scheduled for March 20, 2024. They face decades in prison and more than $1 million in fines.

Massachusetts State Police said in a statement Thursday that it “holds its members to the highest standards of conduct.”

State police also said the department has instituted reforms to prevent future fraud, and asserted that “evidence presented at trial indicated that the actions of Griffin and Robertson were not widespread.”


Daniel J. Griffin, a former lieutenant and commanding officer of the Massachusetts State Police Traffic Programs Section, seen here in 2017 with his smug dick face look.

“The pattern of overtime fraud by former Traffic Programs Section members Daniel Griffin and William Roberston, which led to convictions in U.S. District Court in Worcester, represented a stark violation of our oath to serve the public with honor and integrity".

But hey, it's only a few bad apples right?