Press Release  Former Hull Police Sergeant Pleads Guilty, Sentenced for Stealing from Police Union and Relief Association

Brockton —  A former sergeant of the Hull Police Department has pleaded guilty and been sentenced in connection with stealing from the police union and the police relief association, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Gregory M. Shea, age 54, of Scituate, pleaded guilty today to the charges of Larceny Over $250 (3 counts) in Plymouth Superior Court.

After the plea was entered, Judge Thomas McGuire sentenced Shea to five years of probation, with home confinement and GPS monitoring for the first year. Shea was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $116,675.

“This former police sergeant stole money that was meant to assist police officers and their families,” said AG Healey. “Our office will continue to fight corruption in public agencies by going after those who abuse their positions for their own benefit.”

The AG’s Office began an investigation in March 2014. Shea is a former sergeant of the Hull Police Department (HPD). From 2004 until February 2014, Shea served as the treasurer of the Hull Police Union (Union) and the Hull Police Relief Association (Association). The Association is made up of employees and retirees of HPD and was established primarily in order to pay death benefits and later expanded to include retirement stipends to its members. 

As Treasurer, Shea was responsible for managing the financials of the union and the association and had access to and was an authorized signatory for bank accounts held by each entity. Those bank accounts were primarily funded by charitable donations made by local individuals and businesses, and fundraising events held in the Hull community.

Authorities found that between April 2008 and February 2014, Shea wrote more than $20,000 in checks made payable to himself from accounts held by the union and the association. He also used those accounts to make more than $13,000 in electronic payments toward his home mortgage, and pay off more than $80,000 of charges on his personal credit cards. Authorities found that, with the exception of a small amount to which he was entitled, Shea misappropriated the majority of those funds.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Gina Masotta of AG Healey’s White Collar and Public Integrity Division. The investigation was handled by Investigator Sallyann Nelligan, Director of AG Healey’s Financial Investigations Division, and State Police assigned to the AG’s Office.  

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