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Former MBTA Officer Sentenced for Aiding False Report
BOSTON – In a shocking case of police corruption, former MBTA Transit Police Sergeant David S. Finnerty was sentenced to two years’ probation and 150 hours of community service for aiding and abetting the filing of a false report related to the assault of a homeless man at the Ashmont MBTA Station.
Finnerty, 49, of Rutland, Mass., was convicted in May 2025, after being indicted in August 2023. He was found guilty of one count of aiding and abetting the filing of a false report.
According to court documents, Finnerty was the Officer in Charge for the overnight shift on July 27, 2018, and the supervisor of Transit Police Officer Dorston Bartlett. At 1:47 a.m. on July 27, 2018, at the Ashmont MBTA station, Bartlett physically assaulted a homeless man without legal justification – striking the victim in the leg three times with a steel, expandable police baton.
After the victim reported the assault to local police, Bartlett arrested the victim. During the booking process, the victim repeatedly told Finnerty about the assault, and shortly thereafter, Finnerty watched videos of the incident several times with two other transit police officers.
Despite knowing that Bartlett used excessive force on the victim, Finnerty began an hours-long attempt to help Bartlett falsify an arrest report designed to cover up Bartlett’s unconstitutional use of force. Finnerty reviewed Bartlett’s initial draft of the report and told him to add more details, and then fed him more lies to include in the report via their cell phones.
“By falsifying a police report to cover up an unconstitutional assault, Mr. Finnerty betrayed his badge, the victim he was sworn to protect, and the public’s trust,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “Our justice system depends on officers who follow the law, not those who violate it. Mr. Finnerty’s conviction affirms a simple truth: no one is above the law, and those who abuse their power will be held accountable.”
Finnerty was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to two years’ probation, with a special condition that he complete 150 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay a $500 fine. The government recommended a sentence of two years in prison.
“As law enforcement officers, we must be held to the highest of ethical standards, and Sgt. Finnerty blatantly ignored those standards when he shirked his sworn duty and tried to cover up an unprovoked beating of a homeless man by one of his fellow officers,” said Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Public Corruption|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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