Disabled Buffalo veteran frustrated by poor care sentenced for threats

BOSTON, MA — Former Boston police officer Thomas Nee, 67, of Yarmouth, was sentenced yesterday in an overtime fraud case involving the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns sentenced Nee to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $2,000 fine and $16,151 in restitution. Nee pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one count of conspiracy to commit theft from programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds.

The charges relate to a period between February 2015 and February 2018, during which Nee submitted false and fraudulent overtime reports for shifts he did not work. The fraudulent activities involved two types of overtime: “purge” and “booth.” The “purge” shift was a weekday assignment from 4 to 8 p.m., designed to eliminate old and unnecessary evidence. However, Nee frequently left these shifts at 6 p.m. or earlier. The “booth” shift required the collection of expired prescription medications from various Boston police districts one Saturday per month for incineration. For this, Nee claimed to have worked eight and a half hours, but in fact only worked three to four hours.

During that three-year period, Nee fraudulently collected approximately $16,151 for overtime he did not work. His conviction is the fourth in the sweeping investigation into overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse. Of the 15 officers charged, 10 were convicted by guilty plea or jury verdict, four were acquitted in April 2023, and one officer died while the charges were pending.

Between 2015 and 2019, the Boston Police Department received more than $10,000 per year in benefits from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Justice, funded by various federal grants. This case highlights ongoing efforts to ensure accountability and integrity within law enforcement agencies.

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois — Walter Geovanni Arteta-Gonzalez, 33, and Santos Fernando Zepeda-Arteta, 21, both from Honduras, were sentenced to prison for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Arteta-Gonzalez was sentenced to 18 months on July 10, 2024, while Zepeda-Arteta was sentenced to 14 months on July 11, 2024. Additionally, Arteta-Gonzalez was convicted of illegal reentry after deportation.

At sentencing hearings before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen R. Lawless, the government established that both men possessed firearms while knowing they were in the United States without legal documentation. The incidents that led to their arrests occurred on November 27, 2023, when Springfield police responded to a report of shots fired at a local hotel. After an investigation, review of hotel surveillance footage, and interviews with eyewitnesses, Arteta-Gonzalez and Zepeda-Arteta each admitted to possessing firearms and were observed on video firing shots into the air.

Arteta-Gonzalez admitted to firing shots outside his hotel room “just for fun,” while the gun Zepeda-Arteta owned was discovered to have been stolen in St. Louis, Missouri. Both men have been in custody of the United States Marshals Service since their arrest in November 2023.

The statutory penalties for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person include up to 15 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, and a $100 special assessment. Arteta-Gonzalez’s additional charge of illegal reentry after prior deportation carries statutory penalties of up to 2 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

The case was prosecuted by the Springfield Police Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Sierra-Senor Moore represented the government in the prosecution.

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The defendant is the fourth officer to be convicted in these proceedings.

BUFFALO, NEW YORK — Demont Coston, 56, of Buffalo, N.Y., was sentenced to time served for assaulting a federal employee after he threatened to blow up the Buffalo VA building. The sentence was handed down by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Romer, U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced.

Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Henning, who prosecuted the case, detailed the threats Coston made. On September 12, 2023, Coston repeatedly called the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hotline, repeatedly threatening to blow up the Buffalo VA building. Later that day, he called back, stating, “I should go blow it up… I should go burn the building down.”

Two days later, on September 14, 2023, Coston texted the Crisis Line, expressing frustration with the VA’s lack of support over the past 30 years, saying, “The VA has done nothing for me in 30 years, it’s time to get rid of them, by any means necessary.” He further threatened to “take down all the VA facilities, but I have one in mind first,” and claimed to be near the main VA in Washington, D.C., stating, “I’m in DC, near the main VA ha ha ha well I know where to hit them.”

The investigation leading to Coston’s conviction was conducted by the VA Medical Center Police, under the direction of Chief Richard King, and the VA Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigation Division, under Special Agent in Charge Christopher Algieri.