Vermont state investigators say a former state police sergeant wrote 973 traffic tickets over a dozen years but never handed them out to anyone.

Officials speculate that the phantom ticket-writing is part of an alleged scheme by former Vermont State Police sergeant Jim Deeghan to justify $139,000 in overtime that he never worked, the Burlington Free Press reports.

State police Detective Lt. Robert Cushing writes in a two-page affidavit filed Monday in criminal court in Burlington that an investigation shows that Deeghan received more than $50,000 alone in false overtime claims to attend bogus court appearances for the falsely manufactured tickets.

Free Press reporter Mike Donoghue writes that the probe began after the newspaper published a report showing Deeghan was paid $136,575 in 2011-12 â?? making him the sixth-highest-paid state employee. His pay included $58,325 in overtime, shift differential and other supplemental income.

The 22-year veteran officer, who resigned his post in July, has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of making false claims for $3,023 for 63 hours he allegedly never worked.

Deeghan allegedly reported responding to two car crashes and a false alarm that never occurred.