Massachusetts State Police troopers working specialized overtime patrols – the patrols authorities say were part of the overtime abuse scandal – were expected to write at least eight citations per shift, federal prosecutors wrote in a recent filing.

A state police spokesman told MassLive in a statement that the department “has no policy or operating procedures that establish quotas, and does not endorse a quota system."

“Under the leadership of Colonel Gilpin, the Department has implemented several reforms, including the elimination of Troop E and AIRE Patrols, and has referred 46 troopers to federal prosecutors for alleged overtime abuse," state police spokesman David Procopio said.

In a sentencing memorandum for former Trooper Eric Chin, one of several troopers who were charged in the overtime abuse investigation, federal prosecutors Mark Grady and Dustin Chao said troopers working Accident and Injury Reduction Effort patrols – known as AIRE – were “expected to issue a minimum of 8-10 citations for each AIRE shift.”

“Any failure to issue the required number of citations had to be explained to supervisors and command staff,” prosecutors wrote. “Repeated failures to meet this quota often resulted in a trooper being blocked from receiving such overtime opportunities.”

The memorandum does not mention how the prosecutor attained this information. MassLive reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for clarification.

Eight troopers were charged in federal court on embezzlement charges in connection with the overtime investigation. Chin is one of several troopers who pleaded guilty.

Three troopers, including Lt. David Wilson, also face state charges in the overtime scandal.

A Charlton woman wrote a support letter for Wilson, who is now retired, in his federal case and she mentions quotas.

The woman, Ruth Beringer, is a friend of Wilson’s wife. In her letter, she says Wilson was a workaholic who served the state well and fostered more than 50 children, adopting two of them.

She claimed that troopers were allowed to leave overtime shifts early if traffic stop quotas were met.

“If Lt. Wilson finished his quota, he would relieve the desk officer and go in early for his regular shift,” she wrote.

Chin, who is scheduled for sentencing in a U.S. District Court in Boston next week, was suspended in April 2017. In an interview with WCVB, he said overtime abuse was a common practice in Troop E.

He told the television station in the March 2018 interview that, “this was an ongoing, accepted practice in that particular troop.” Chin further told WCVB that the charges against the troopers showed change was needed within state police.

Chin was terminated on Dec. 12, 2018. Union members have not filed grievances about a loss of overtime opportunities based on failure to meet an alleged citation quota.

Nearly 50 troopers were flagged in the overtime investigation that involved members of the former Troop E. The troopers were investigated for specialized overtime patrols conducted on the Massachusetts Turnpike and Metropolitan tunnels system.

State police began an internal investigation in 2017 and, in early 2018, announced an internal audit revealed potential overtime abuse.

All eight troopers charged in federal court have pleaded guilty.

Authorities say the troopers skipped some shifts entirely and falsified citation information to make it appear they were conducted the specialized traffic enforcement.

FBI investigators said they discovered the troopers charged in the case didn’t have their cruiser radios on even though they reported working the overtime shifts. This shows the troopers were not conducting the enforcement, authorities said.

The AIRE patrols were 4-hour-long shifts and conducted by members of the former Troop E. The program was created to reduce accidents, crashes and enforce aggressive driving on the Mass. Pike.

Depending on seniority, troopers were paid between $60 to $75 an hour with lieutenants making $100 per hour or more.

In the sentencing memorandum in the Chin case, prosecutors say troopers assigned to the AIRE shifts and who “chose to abuse this overtime benefit” would write the minimum number of ticket and then go home.

“In many instances, these troopers would obtain the minimum number of citations in an hour, or less,” the prosecutors said.

As stated in many of the federal cases against the troopers, some citations were doctored to give the appearance the troopers were conducting enforcement while working the overtime patrols.

In the case against Trooper Heath McAuliffe, he claimed he wrote eight motor vehicle citations during an overtime shift. Investigators reviewed the citations and discovered no driver histories were requested during the Sept. 15, 2015 overtime shift by the trooper.

Seven of the citations had never been issued, authorities discovered while reviewing state Registry of Motor Vehicle records. The eighth citation was issued to a driver, but seven hours before McAuliffe’s overtime shift began.

Federal prosecutors also accuse the troopers using bad weather as a way not to issue citations at all during the overtime patrols.

“In practice, inclement weather meant neither tickets, nor work, was required for troopers abusing the AIRE program,” the prosecutors wrote. “Reminiscent of a grade school ‘snow day,’ these troopers treated the AIRE overtime program as if it were a paid holiday.”