Former Scranton police sergeant sentenced to imprisonment for federal program fraud

 

Date: May 5, 2023

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Scranton — The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Jeffrey J. Vaughn, a former patrol sergeant in the Scranton Police Department, was sentenced on May 4, 2023, to 6 months' imprisonment and a 2-year term of supervised release by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani for theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.

According to the United States Attorney's Office, from approximately July 30, 2021, to April 22, 2022, Vaughn knowingly obtained by fraud over $5,000.00 in compensation that was paid to him for certain extra duty patrol shifts at local, Scranton-area, lower-income housing complexes that Vaughn claimed to work but did not in fact work. In all, the investigation found a total of 266 hours that Vaughn claimed to work patrolling the complexes but that he did not actually work. Additionally, Vaughn also failed to work several DUI roving patrol shifts (another category of overtime shifts available to Scranton Police Officers) for which he was likewise paid.

Judge Mariani also ordered Vaughn to pay restitution in the amount of $11,243.00 and to pay a fine of $2,000.00. He was also ordered to complete 50 hours of community service as a condition of his supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Scranton Federal Bureau of Investigation's Public Corruption Task Force, which consists of members of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, and federal agents from the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffery St John and Phillip J. Caraballo prosecuted the case.