Ex-MBTA worker pleads guilty to faked track inspections, OT fraud

A former MBTA employee pleaded guilty this week to falsifying Red Line track inspection reports and committing overtime fraud after prosecutors alleged he and other T workers treated Cabot Yard as a personal auto repair shop. 

Former track inspector Andy Vicente, 37, of Bridgewater, was one of five current and former T employees arrested last year during an investigation into Cabot Yard, a South Boston facility used to store and maintain Red Line trains. Federal prosecutors later charged another three former T workers this past July. 

Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 16, 2024, Vicente and his co-conspirators falsified track inspection reports using information they found online, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged. In fact, according to prosecutors, Vicente was actually present inside Cabot Yard during some of his purported inspections. Prosecutors say he and the other employees used the maintenance facility’s garage as an “automobile repair shop” and worked on personal vehicles while on the clock. 

During that same period in 2024, Vicente and his alleged co-conspirators also submitted overtime sheets for hours they didn’t work, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. On some occasions, the employees turned up hours late for their shifts or never showed up at all, according to prosecutors. Other times, they allegedly clocked in and disappeared for hours at a time, sometimes heading off to sleep in their vehicles. 

Vicente pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count each of conspiracy to falsify records and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommend “incarceration at the low end” of sentencing guidelines, one year of supervised release, a $200 fee, and forfeiture of any property seized during the investigation, according to court records. 

The wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to falsify records carries up to five years in prison. 

Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Jan. 13. A lawyer for Vicente did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between. She has been covering the Lindsay Clancy murder case since January 2023.