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By Gintautas Dumcius | MassLive

The Massachusetts State Police, hit with scandals in 2017 that stretched into 2018, enters 2019 with an ongoing investigation into overtime abuse.

There have been multiple indictments, arrests, and guilty pleas. But the depth of the problem is still unclear.

Gov. Charlie Baker, who in late 2017 installed Col. Kerry Gilpin to clean up the troubled law enforcement agency, has said the overtime abuse is a scam and a conspiracy going back years.

That means the amount of money allegedly stolen as part of the overtime abuse is still being counted, as federal and state prosecutors weigh more charges.

Out of the 46 troopers placed under investigation for the alleged fraud, 10 have been hit with charges. At the federal level, US Attorney Andrew Lelling is investigating the abuse, while Attorney General Maura Healey is leveling charges at the state level.

Here's an updated look at the current and former troopers grappling with state and federal charges, and the running tally of money they were paid but allegedly did not work for. Most have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty, and they are ordered to pay money back, on top of fines.

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Gregory Raftery

Gregory Raftery, a 47-year-old retired trooper from Westwood, pleaded guilty to a federal embezzlement charge.

He was paid more than $24,000 in overtime he didn't show up for in 2015 and more than $30,000 in 2016, according to his guilty plea.

His 2016 compensation came to $219,669, up from $202,769 in 2015. Overtime pay in those two years amounted to a total of $170,121.

"Raftery admitted that he frequently left overtime shifts early, and, on occasion, did not work overtime shifts at all," the office of the US Attorney said in a release. "To hide this conduct, Raftery submitted bogus motor vehicle citations that were never issued to operators, and then claimed on the citations and internal MSP paperwork that they had been written during overtime shifts that, in reality, Raftery did not work."

He is slated to be sentenced on March 25.

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(Gintautas Dumcius/MassLive)

David Wilson

David Wilson, a 58-year-old Charlton man who served as a shift commander, was hit with federal and state charges. He agreed to plead guilty to the federal embezzlement charge.

Federal prosecutors say Wilson submitted false overtime claims in 2016 for $12,450. That year, WIlson earned $259,475 and received a total of $102,062 in overtime pay.

But state prosecutors say the number hit at least $19,000 that year, on top of $11,000 allegedly stolen in 2015.

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Former Mass. State Police Lt. John Giulino is arraigned at Suffolk Superior Court on Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. (Jacqueline Tempera/MassLive)

John Giulino

John Giulino, a 68-year-old Lanesborough resident, is among the troopers that Attorney General Healey's office is focusing on.

Giulino, now retired, put in 279 hours of overtime in 2015 and 2016 that he allegedly didn't work, bringing the total to $28,000 in pay, according to Healey's office.

The former commander of the Westfield barracks, he was paid a total of $212,504 in 2016 and $215,000 in 2015.

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Former Mass. State Police Lt. David Keefe is arraigned at Suffolk Superior Court on Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. (Jacqueline Tempera/MassLive)

David Keefe

David Keefe, a 52-year-old Norfolk resident who served as commander of the Weston barracks before retiring, is accused of taking $5,000 in overtime that he didn't work in 2015 and at least $17,000 for hours he didn't work in 2016.

He was paid over $204,000 in 2015 and $207,878 in 2016.

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(Gintautas Dumcius/MassLive)

Paul Cesan

Paul Cesan, a 50-year-old Southwick man, has pleaded guilty to the federal charge of embezzlement. Authorities accused the retired trooper of taking $29,287 in overtime pay he didn't work in 2016.

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(Gintautas Dumcius/MassLive)

Gary Herman

Suspended trooper Gary Herman, a 45-year-old Chester man, pleaded guilty to stealing in 2016 a total of $12,468 in overtime shifts he didn't show up for or left early, according to authorities. He earned $227,826 that year.

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Retired state trooper Daren DeJong (right) leaves federal court with his attorney Brad Bailey. (Gintautas Dumcius/MassLive)

Daren DeJong

Daren DeJong, a retired 57-year-old trooper from Uxbridge, agreed to plead guilty to the federal embezzlement charge, covering $14,062.50 in overtime hours he didn't work in 2016.

He received $200,416 that year and picked up $68,394 in overtime pay.

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Kevin Sweeney

Kevin Sweeney, a suspended 40-year-old trooper from Braintree, pleaded guilty to the federal embezzlement charged and agreed to pay back $11,103.

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Heath McAuliffe

Suspended trooper Heath McAuliffe, a 40-year-old man from Hopkinton, is charged with taking in $9,825 between August 2015 and August 2016 for overtime he didn't work.

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Eric Chin

Suspended trooper Eric Chin, a 46-year-old Hanover resident, pleaded guilty to putting in overtime hours -- and receiving $7,125 -- that he didn't work.

He earned $302,400 in 2016, and two years later, apparently became the first trooper to undergo scrutiny for overtime abuse.

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The current total

That all brings the current total of allegedly stolen money to roughly $218,000.

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US Attorney Andrew Lelling (Gintautas Dumcius/MassLive)

How many years back is the investigation going?

The charges at the state and federal level focus on 2015 and 2016, and investigators have been publicly tight-lipped on if they plan, or can, to go beyond those two years in terms of internal data and records that they've been using to build their respective cases.

"You just have to watch to see what becomes public from this office," Lelling, the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, told reporters during a recent sit-down.

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And then there are the pension payments...

A number of the troopers retired amid the overtime scandal and they started receiving pension payments.

Wilson is receiving $8,791.01 a month, while DeJong is receiving $6,251.99.

Raftery is receiving $6,017.07 a month.

After Raftery's guilty plea was announced, the State Police said they were forwarding Raftery's name to the state retirement board in an effort to strip him of his pension.

Pension payments are based on salary, not on overtime or detail pay.

Under state law, the state retirement board can withhold pensions if someone is convicted of a crime related to their job.

Gov. Baker has repeatedly said any convicted trooper should be blocked from receiving his or her pension.

"If anybody is found guilty of stealing from the taxpayers and the toll payers, then in my opinion they should not receive their pension," Baker said.

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Col. Kerry Gilpin (Photo: Melissa Hanson/MassLive)

The reforms

Earlier in 2018, Gov. Baker and Col. Gilpin proposed a series of reforms to deal with the series of scandals that have hit the State Police.

The elimination of Troop E, where all the current and former charged troopers hail from, was at the top of the list, which came out months before authorities started arresting the accused.

Gilpin has hired an independent auditing firm as well.

On Dec. 12, the same day that federal prosecutors announced that Wilson and DeJong entered into plea agreements and Chin agreed to plead guilty, a Massachusetts State Police spokesman said the agency continues "to implement operational and oversight reforms, and will continue to share overtime audit results with state and federal prosecutors to hold accountable department members who fail to uphold the code of integrity, honesty, and professionalism we demand."

The spokesman's statement added: "The conduct described in today's court actions do not define the Massachusetts State Police, and for proof of that one need only look at the overwhelming majority of Troopers who do their jobs with honor, bravery, and dedication each and every day."

But how did the overtime abuse all start? Is there an endpoint to the investigations?

Prosecutors have been so far unwilling to provide a definitive answer to those questions, among others.

"It appears necessary, at least from what we've seen so far, to clean house a little bit at the State Police," Lelling told reporters in December 2018.

"We're going to keep investigating the use of overtime at the State Police while we have leads," he said. "So I can't give you an endpoint. I do think it's in the public interest we do this with all deliberate speed."

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