Ex-state police sergeant Robertson gets 3 years in federal prison for OT theft scheme

WORCESTER — A former state police sergeant convicted in December of helping conduct a long-running overtime theft scheme was sentenced to three years in federal prison Tuesday.

William W. Robertson, 62, formerly of Westborough, was given until June 11 to self-report to federal prison after a federal judge in Worcester rejected his request for home confinement.

“He took an oath, and he violated that oath,” U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman said as she handed down her sentence.

Guzman on Friday sentenced Robertson’s former boss, Lt. Daniel Griffin, to five years in prison for his part in the scheme, as well as for separate convictions tied to allegations Griffin defrauded the IRS and a private school by underreporting income.

Prosecutors agreed with Robertson’s lawyer Tuesday that his crimes were not as extensive as Griffin’s, and Guzman remarked that her review of his letters of support show a trooper who for many years served with distinction.

But somewhere along the way, Guzman said, his service veered into criminal acts that she, against his lawyer’s insinuations, said could not be all blamed on Griffin.

“He certainly wasn’t doing it against his will,” Guzman said. “And he did it for a long time.”

Robertson and Griffin were each convicted, following a lengthy jury trial, of conspiracy, theft and wire fraud charges tied to allegations the small traffic unit they commanded stole more than $130,000 in federal overtime from 2015 to 2017.

Prosecutors, armed with evidence that included location-based cruiser data and immunized trooper testimony, argued members in the unit habitually accepted money for distracted or drunken driving federal overtime shifts they didn’t perform.

The unit, under the direction of Griffin, coordinated to falsely align their timesheets, prosecutors argued, and would leave federally funded road safety shifts early or sometimes not perform the work at all.

A lawyer for Robertson, William W. Fick, argued Tuesday that jurors heard no evidence of Robertson signing off on time sheets, and maintained that his client’s deception did not extend to the limits of some others, especially Griffin.

But prosecutors noted — as did Guzman — that the federal government was hampered in its probe after Robertson, according to immunized testimony, ordered a subordinate trooper to destroy records regarding the overtime after word of separate allegations of overtime theft in State Police Troop E broke.

“He had someone else do it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam W. Deitch said, calling the order an act of “cowardice” aimed at ensuring that, if he got into trouble, others would too.

The government immunized several troopers under Robertson and Griffin, all of whom admitted under oath to participating in a scheme they generally said was directed by Griffin.

One immunized trooper, Dennis Kelley, cried as he testified that Robertson angrily and forcefully ordered him to destroy records tied to the overtime shifts after the revelations about Troop E surfaced.

Fick argued Robertson’s culpability was far lesser than Griffin’s, and presented many letters in court attesting to Robertson’s service to his family and as a trooper.

He further argued that most defendants in the separate Troop E overtime theft scandal avoid jail time, and argued that Robertson’s actions, though inexcusable, were hardly isolated to his client or his unit.

In court papers, Fick linked to a 2021 Massachusetts Inspector General report that estimated troopers collectively were absent about 9% of the time they were supposed to be working overtime in 2016.

He argued Tuesday that the government, if it truly seeks to deter such conduct, should charge more troopers rather than seek to make examples of a smaller number of troopers like Robertson.

Deitch did not dispute that Robertson’s crimes were less varied than Griffin’s, and agreed that Robertson was a “devoted family member” and someone who “has done a lot of good in the course of his life.”

But the crimes Robertson committed were still a serious breach of public trust, he said — a conscious decision to cheat taxpayers out both money and public safety.

“This was shift after shift, lie after lie,” said Deitch, who asked Guzman to sentence Robertson to 42 months in prison.

Deitch noted that Robertson, unlike most of the Troop E defendants, took his case to trial rather than admit guilt, and said his order to the subordinate was the opposite of acceptance of responsibility.

Deitch argued the magnitude of the fraud was amplified by the fact that the traffic unit Griffin and Robertson oversaw was supposed to be helping reduce the chances of deadly accidents on the state’s roadways.

Guzman agreed. She said a letter in Robertson’s court submissions showing praise from a person he helped by the side of the road served, for her, a dual purpose: showing that Robertson had once served with distinction, but also highlighting the gravity of his later conduct.

That person, Guzman argued, is the same person Robertson or the troopers under his command might have helped had they actually worked all the overtime shifts they collected money for working.

The federal programs were funded, with lobbying by police, based on the premise that they would help reduce the number of people killed or seriously hurt on the road, she noted.

“They were not concerned with the general public,” Guzman commented of Robertson and Griffin, but instead thought of personal gain.

Guzman ordered Robertson, who the government alleged pocketed about $32,000 from the scheme, to forfeit that amount to the government, as well as to, along with Griffin, be jointly and severally liable to pay $142,000 in restitution.

Guzman also ordered Robertson to serve three years of supervised release when he gets out of prison.

Robertson — who has since moved to South Carolina and who declined to make a statement in court prior to sentencing — did not visibly react as Guzman handed down her sentence.

Fick declined to comment outside the courtroom as he led his client to a conference area.

The lawyer wrote in court documents that Robertson is likely to lose his pension as a result of his conviction.

Robertson had nearly two dozen supporters in court Tuesday — something the prosecutor and judge both lauded during court arguments.

Guzman said she had “no doubt” that those who wrote letters of support, including a retired female state police captain who said Robertson helped her navigate the challenges of a male-dominated field, were sincere.

She called the letters a “beautiful aspect” of the process, “even in this dark day for you,” and said the show of support in court suggested Robertson has amassed many people who care about him and will stand by him.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Ex-state police officer Robertson gets 3 years in prison for OT theft