Gary Herman, a former Massachusetts State Police trooper, was sentenced to one day in prison Thursday for his part in the overtime abuse scandal that roiled the agency.

Herman, who had worked for the state police for almost 20 years before he was suspended in March 2018, pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from an agency receiving federal funds in a Boston federal court in October 2018. He was sentenced to one day in prison, which was deemed already served, and one year of supervised released on Thursday.

He is to be on home confinement for three months.

Judge Rya W. Zobel ordered Herman, 45 of Chester, to pay back $12,468 of the more than $28,000 he stole from the state police.

Zobel said there was “no question” that Herman was a good officer and a “generous and caring person who did good things not only for his family but his community in large measure."

“He has shown extraordinary remorse,” Zobel said. “But it is important to send a message we cannot and will not tolerate misappropriation of...the public’s money.”

In court Zobel asked Herman if he wished to speak.

The former trooper sighed, looked at his lawyer and then said, “Your honor, there is a lot I’d like to say, but I just want to move forward with my life.”

In 2017, state police began to investigate overtime programs within the now disbanded Troop E, which primarily patrolled the Massachusetts Turnpike.

An internal affairs investigation led to more than 40 troopers being flagged for possible abuse of the system.

The investigation involved AIRE (Accident Injury Reduction Effort) and “X-Team” patrols which were overtime shifts meant to reduce accidents and address aggressive driving on the Massachusetts Turnpike and Metropolitan Tunnel System. The reviewed patrols were conducted in 2015 and 2016.

A total of 10 troopers have been charged in both state and federal courts after the audit revealed that they skipped overtime shifts, wrote false tickets and submitted fake payroll records instead of conducting specialized patrols.

All seven troopers facing the embezzlement charge, including Herman, along with supervisor Lt. David Wilson have pleaded guilty. Several troopers have already been sentenced.

The government found Herman did not show up for 77.75 hours of AIRE overtime and 130 hours of X-Team overtime during 2015, costing the agency $15,581.25. In 2016, Herman collected $12,468 for AIRE and X-Team shifts he did not work.

To cover up the fraud Herman submitted false citations. In June 2016, payroll records show Herman was on leave and did not work his assigned shift. He submitted records, however, that falsely showed he worked a detail from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and an AIRE overtime shift from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Herman submitted eight citations he claimed to have written during the AIRE shift, according to court documents. Three of those were written during a regular detail and the five remaining citations were “wholly bogus,” according to court documents. The citations were issued to five people Herman wrote identical citations for months earlier.

“[He] simply re-used the information from those citations to create bogus citations in order to be paid for hours he did not work,” the government wrote in court documents.

The entire time Herman was supposedly working the overtime shift his cruiser radio was shut off - showing he was not driving or using the vehicle, according to court documents.

“Few crimes strike at the core of the justice system more than those involving law enforcement officers who choose to break, rather than uphold, the law,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. “Though at its heart a crime motivated by simple greed, it is far more troubling than the run of the mill fraud cases in this court. This crime, and the abusive culture it served to perpetuate, reflect a betrayal of the trust and power granted to those who serve in law enforcement.”

Herman’s lawyer said his client has been working in construction since his suspension and is on “an upward swing.”