WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb and United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves announced that Medgar Webster Sr., 52, of Washington, DC, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to one count of first degree felony fraud for committing time and attendance fraud on the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the District of Columbia. This fraud prosecution is the result of a partnership between the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USAO), through which OAG has detailed a prosecutor to USAO to prosecute local public corruption cases.
The Honorable Errol Arthur accepted Webster’s guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for July 25, 2023. As part of his plea, Webster must pay full restitution of the more than $33,000 he stole from MPD.
“By stealing from the Metropolitan Police Department, Medgar Webster, Sr. not only committed a crime, but he violated the trust that District residents place in law enforcement officers,” said AG Schwalb. “The Office of the Attorney General developed our Public Corruption Section to ensure that those who misuse District government resources, threaten the integrity of government services, and undermine public trust are held accountable—and we are committed to continuing our partnership with the US Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute these crimes.”
According to court documents, Webster, a former MPD officer and former Vice Chairman of the DC Police Union, engaged in unauthorized outside employment at three Whole Foods Market locations in Washington, DC between January 2021 and April 2022, while concurrently employed by MPD. Although employment outside of MPD may be permitted in certain circumstances, Webster never submitted the necessary administrative forms or received the proper authorizations to engage in outside employment.
Acting unchecked during this period, Webster stole more than $33,845 from MPD by billing MPD for regular, overtime and holiday hours that he never worked. In total, Webster worked more than 1,400 hours of outside employment at Whole Foods. He worked 514 hours of those hours during times he fraudulently reported he was working for MPD. This double-billed time included submissions by Webster for 246.5 hours in overtime pay, at an adjustable hourly rate of $79.67 per hour.
In announcing the guilty plea, US Attorney Graves, DC Attorney General Schwalb, and MPD Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from MPD’s Internal Affairs Division. They also expressed appreciation for the work of those who investigated and prosecuted the matter, including Assistant US Attorney Benjamin D. Bleiberg, and former Chief of OAG’s Public Corruption Section and former Special Assistant US Attorney Bayly Leighton.
Public Corruption Section
OAG’s Public Corruption Section focuses on eradicating public corruption in the District—including bribery, fraud, tax evasion, campaign finance violations, and other forms of misuse and misappropriation of government resources. Through a partnership with USAO, the section investigates and charges local offenses that impact the integrity of DC government services and undermine public trust, including felonies. (Typically, OAG only has jurisdiction to prosecute cases in which young people commit law violations and cases involving certain misdemeanors committed by adults, while USAO prosecutes all felony crimes committed by adults and other adult misdemeanors.)