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BPD mechanic gets two months for ordering auto parts he then resold

A federal judge yesterday sentenced Bahram Gharony, 36, to two months in prison - and ordered him to pay $256,432 in restitution - for the way he ordered foreign-car parts and tools through Boston Police accounts and then sold them to private auto mechanics.

Gharony pleaded guilty in July for the ordering he did between 2017 and 2020 while a mechanic with the BPD fleet-management division.

In addition to whiting out the VIN numbers of non-BPD cars for some of his orders, he also obtained repair tools from a local supplier by having them submit invoices for them as car parts, which he was authorized to purchase, rather than tools, which he was not, according to a sentencing memorandum by prosecutors.

In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors urged US District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock to show some leniency because Gharony pleaded guilty quickly, actively worked to resolve the case after that, has four children, two with disabilities, and had "an arduous path" emigrating to the US from Iran. Still, his sentence should include some prison, the government said:

The theft of $250,000 by a public employee in a fraudulent scheme warrants a sentence of incarceration. While the loss of his job is most likely sufficient to deter the defendant in this case, the Court should sentence the defendant to a term of incarceration to promote general deterrence.

Gharony's attorney argued for a sentence of just probation, saying that Gharony, who now works as a tow-truck driver, also suffers from PTSD and ADHD, that that, combined with the pressures of supporting four children was what drove him off the straight and narrow, and that putting him behind bars would keep him from supporting his wife and children

Extreme financial pressure, the responsibility to support two families, (one from a prior relationship and another with his present spouse), the need to provide for four children, two of whom were severely disabled, -- all of these things weighed on Mr. Gharony and clouded his judgment. Additionally, he was hampered by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) owing to a prior trauma and from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which made it difficult to focus, caused impulsivity and led to bouts of depression. This does not excuse his conduct. Mr. Gharony must make amends for his crimes. He seeks the opportunity to do so while continuing to work so as to uphold his familial responsibilities.

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Comments

$256,432 in 2017-2020 was worth a lot more than $256,432 today.

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Two months for a quarter of a million dollars is an incredibly light sentence IMHO.

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I wouldn't be surprised if they got some kind of kickback for submitting the fraudulent invoices. Though I also wouldn't be surprised if they cooperated with the Feds to avoid prosecution.

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I don't know anything about accounting, but this seems like a really dumb thing to do. Am I wrong about that? It seems like there would be so many paper trails - maybe they're gambling that no one bothers to look at the paperwork?

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You have to hope that no one looking closely at the paperwork understands enough about what is being paid for.

Most organizations have an expense reporting structure that would have someone close enough to the purchase first approving it, before it goes up to some accountant that is well qualified to be an accountant but knows little about individual car parts or whatever is getting purchased in the business units.

The court documents suggest he was initially ordering parts that appeared to be for legitimate BPD vehicles, then selling them, and eventually started ordering parts for vehicles that were clearly not in the BPD inventory. I'm guessing he got caught when he started making obvious alterations to the invoices he was reporting that did not even closely match a real BPD vehicle.

If you bought a part for a Ford Police Interceptor Utility, which is a Ford Explorer, no one is going to take a close look at that, think about just how many vehicles in the fleet that part could actually go into. Honda parts on the order hand, not a whole lot of Hondas in a police fleet....

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Ahh, the old under pressure to support your family defense...works every time.

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“It’s ok that I broke the law because I’m bad at pulling out, your honor.”

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