UMass Boston Police Department Sgt. Edouardo St. Fort had his law enforcement license suspended by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission April 2 after he was indicted on charges of federal-program bribery.
St. Fort, who was previously a sergeant with the New York Police Department, began working for UMass Boston in 2024. He was indicted March 31 along with Miguel Jorge, Jean Ronald Tirelus and Roberto Samedy after evidence pointed to their involvement in a kickback scheme in New York City.
Following a court appearance in Boston, St. Fort was released on a $500,000 bond but faces up to ten years in prison if convicted. St. Fort will be arraigned in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. His attorney, James Kousouros, did not respond to a request for comment.
Charging documents allege that Tirelus and Samedy led a non-profit organization in New York City that “provided home health care services and received City homeless shelter contracts.” They received hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and Medicaid payments, $1.3 million of which they allegedly sent to companies also controlled by Tirelus.
The documents allege that St. Fort and Jorge were in charge of vendor companies that provided security and maintenance services to the non-profit, which provided them with millions of dollars in return for bribes and kickbacks from the vendors.
St. Fort’s vendor company entered an agreement with one of Samedy’s companies in February 2023. In April 2023, his company entered a similar agreement with one of Samedy and Tirelus’s non-profits to provide them with security services. The documents allege that between June and October of 2023, “St. Fort paid Samedy and defendant Jean Ronald Tirelus more than $75,000 in bribes and kickbacks.” The government charges St. Fort with violation of the Travel Act, which prohibits illegal activity across state borders.
St. Fort “is hereby directed to immediately surrender, and the [UMBPD] is directed to collect, without delay, any Agency-issued or government-issued permits, credentials, badges, and equipment associated with service as a law enforcement officer,” the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission wrote in an order. The order also includes any uniforms, firearms and nonlethal weapons.
A spokesperson for the university and the UMBPD declined to comment.
