Indicted and getting paid

While indicted state employees who are suspended lose their pay, the four staties facing charges over the death of trooper trainee Enrique Delgado-Garcia have kept their pay — leading to questions from the public.

The Mass State Police recently said it was suspending with pay the four troopers who face involuntary manslaughter and other charges in connection with the recruit’s boxing death.

The staties are: Lt. Jennifer Penton ($141,807 annual salary), Trooper Edwin Rodriguez ($100,486), Trooper David Montanez ($100,486), and Trooper Casey LaMonte ($105,510).

Mass State Police has a different discipline process than for other state employees and officers, which means that indicted troopers can be suspended with pay.

MSP’s Article 6 governs the discipline process for troopers. Other public employees for the state are disciplined under what’s called the “Perry Law,” a separate statute.

Under the trooper’s Article 6, Mass State Police convenes duty status hearings to determine the duty status of the troopers. The Duty Status Board recommends to the colonel whether the statie facing discipline should be suspended without pay, suspended with pay, placed on restricted duty, or continued on full duty.

In the case of the four troopers facing charges, the State Police on Feb. 19 announced, “The Department reviewed all available information and determined the four individuals will be suspended with pay.”

Meanwhile, the “Perry Law” under Massachusetts General Laws is for state employees and officers who are “under indictment for misconduct in office; suspension.”

“Any person so suspended shall not receive any compensation or salary during the period of such suspension…” the Perry Law reads.

“If the criminal proceedings against the person suspended are terminated without a finding or verdict of guilty on any of the charges on which he was indicted, his suspension shall be forthwith removed, and he shall receive all compensation or salary due him for the period of his suspension…” the law later states.

Mass State Police’s Article 6 discipline process was featured in a Supreme Judicial Court decision about back pay in 2023: Nathanael Perez v. Department of State Police.

In that case, Perez was a trooper who was suspended without pay under Article 6 after he was indicted on charges relating to his performance in his former position as a Springfield police officer.

Perez was indicted by a grand jury on charges of perjury, misleading a police officer, and filing a false report.

After the charges against Perez were dismissed, he requested back pay under the Massachusetts General Law “Perry Law.”

“Perez contends that the Perry Law applies to all State employees who have been suspended without pay because of a criminal indictment stemming from job-related misconduct,” the SJC ruling stated. “The State Police maintain that the Perry Law is discretionary; because the colonel of the State Police suspended Perez pursuant to art. 6.2, which details disciplinary proceedings for indicted troopers, but is silent with respect to back pay, they argue that Perez is not entitled to compensation for his period of suspension.

“We conclude that when the colonel decided to suspend Perez, he had discretion to choose whether to invoke the Perry Law, which applies to civil servants, or to proceed under art. 6.2, which is unique to the State Police,” the SJC added. “Because the colonel opted to suspend Perez in accordance with art. 6.2, Perez was not entitled to back pay or other relief under the terms of the Perry Law.”

The 6.2 section referenced in the SJC decision is a part of the trooper’s statute, Article 6.

Fast forward to today, and the four troopers attached to the Massachusetts State Police Academy will face involuntary manslaughter charges, and also charges for causing serious bodily injury while participating in a training program involving physical exercise, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Penton is also facing a charge of perjury.

The four members of the State Police were a part of the Academy’s Defensive Tactics Unit.

Delgado-Garcia was knocked unconscious during a boxing exercise at the State Police Academy on Sept. 12, 2024, and died the following day.

State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble has noted that Mass State Police has taken steps to reform the agency since the trooper trainee’s death, including initiating an independent review by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and expanding supports for recruits.

Given that the MSP’s Article 6 allows the agency some discretion on how to handle individual cases, there are examples of troopers under suspension without pay.

One recent case in the news surrounds State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley, who’s facing a motor vehicle homicide charge in connection with an on-duty crash, in which he was allegedly driving under the influence. The victim in that case, Special Olympian Angelo Schettino, was traveling in a wheelchair transport van. He died a month after the crash.

Quigley was suspended soon after an allegation of his excessive blood alcohol level surfaced in a civil case filed by Schettino’s estate. That MSP suspension was handed down without pay.

Quigley was indicted by a statewide grand jury on the motor vehicle homicide charge just last week.