A veteran Boston police officer was indicted Thursday on charges he stole money from the department’s evidence room and tried to launder it at the Plainridge Park Casino, the state’s attorney general announced Thursday.
Joseph Nee, 44, who is assigned to the Boston Police Department’s evidence management unit in Hyde Park, allegedly stole about $2,000 from a closed bank robbery case file in January, the attorney general’s office said.
The money, authorities said, was identified by traces of red dye left from an antitheft dye pack that discharged during the robbery.
Nee tried to feed some of the stolen cash into the slot machines at Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville. He also allegedly redeemed stolen money at a kiosk at Plainridge for cash that wasn’t tainted with red dye, authorities said.
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A Suffolk County grand jury indicted Nee on charges of larceny over $250 and money laundering. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Oct. 30. Nee, authorities said, has worked for Boston police since 1998.
His attorney, Ken Anderson, said Thursday: “He’s a very well-liked officer, and he’s been cooperative, and we’re just going to deal with it through the court system.”
Nee was placed on administrative leave with pay in August, Boston police said. In light of the indictment, he is now suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case, according to the police department.
In a statement, Boston Police Commissioner William Evans called the behavior alleged in the indictment “inexcusable.”
“I hold my officers to the highest standards and expect them to obey the law that they have taken an oath to uphold,” Evans said. “Allegations like this can damage the trust my officers have worked so hard to build with the community. The anticorruption unit will continue to investigate all allegations of wrongdoing by my officers.”
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In a statement, Massachusetts Gaming Commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said: “Let the message be clear that Massachusetts will have zero tolerance for activity that compromises the integrity of the state’s gaming industry.”
Plainridge, according to the attorney general’s statement, “fully cooperated with the investigation.”
The charges result from a joint investigation by the State Police’s gaming enforcement unit, Boston police’s anticorruption unit, and the attorney general’s gaming enforcement division, according to the statement.
Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald @globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Danny__McDonald.