Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Former lieutenant fired for bilking $100K from NYPD sentenced to conditional discharge
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Dec 11, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Kyle Mazza / Anadolu via Getty Images
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Dec 11, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A former NYPD lieutenant who was fired after pleading guilty at departmental trial to receiving $100,000 for hours he did not work — mostly in fraudulent overtime — will not go to prison as long as he is not rearrested, a Manhattan judge said this week.
Prosecutors said Thomas Fabrizi was sentenced Tuesday to a conditional discharge in his grand larceny case. His sentencing and previously unreported firing come amid continued scrutiny over the NYPD’s high overtime costs and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s moves to address corruption within the department's ranks.
Fabrizi declined to comment Thursday when reached by phone, and his lawyer did not respond to an inquiry about the case. He pleaded guilty to the felony charge in court early last month, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed Fabrizi was terminated in July. An internal report detailing departmental proceedings related to his misconduct shows Tisch approved his dismissal that month.
“Based on the totality of the evidence in this record, respondent's actions were contrary to good order, efficiency and discipline in this department,” an assistant deputy commissioner for NYPD trials wrote in the report, recommending Fabrizi’s termination. “His submission of false entries in police records and the City Time database facilitated the acquisition of $100,289.90 in ill-gotten gains.”
Fabrizi was a 19-year veteran of the department when he was arrested in January on charges of stealing more than $64,000 through work-related fraud over several months. The report for his departmental trial states he logged almost 1,000 hours — amounting to just over $100,000 in overtime and normal pay — when he wasn’t actually on the job.
Fabrizi testified he was under significant financial stress because one of his children has special needs and because he had to repay graduate school loans, provide monetary assistance to his in-laws and deal with the effects of a previous marriage he’d entered to help a friend who had serious medical issues, according to the document. The assistant deputy commissioner wrote that while the disciplinary tribunal sympathized with those challenges, Fabrizi's misconduct demonstrated “a lack of integrity … inconsistent with continued service” in the NYPD.
Fabrizi, a Rockland County resident, supervised four sergeants and 16 detectives at the major case unit in Manhattan, the document states. From July 2023 to February 2024, he falsified his overtime reports and other internal paperwork, and improperly used an NYPD vehicle to drive his children between Rockland County and their school in Queens, filling it with gasoline on the department’s dime.
During some of the hours he claimed he was working overtime, Fabrizi was working a paid security detail for a private security company without NYPD authorization. On other occasions he logged as work time, he was shopping, running personal errands and spending time with his family, according to police records.
Fabrizi was stripped of his gun and badge in March 2024 and transferred to a desk job at the Manhattan courts while internal investigators reviewed his overtime pay, the New York Daily News previously reported. He formerly worked in the NYPD’s 17th Precinct in Midtown and narcotics division in Manhattan North, agency records show.
The NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association union did not return requests for comment on Fabrizi’s sentencing and firing.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot and killed on Midtown subway platform Saturday afternoon, NYPD says
Police said they're searching for a person of interest.
By
Ryan Kost
and
Elizabeth Kim
Published Oct 17, 2026
Modified Oct 17, 2026
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
Suspects were driving a Subaru Forester, police said.
By
Ryan Kost
News
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
Suspects were driving a Subaru Forester, police said.
By
Ryan Kost
Being reigning champions is weird for Knicks fans, but we could get used to this.
By
Catalina Gonella
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
By
Willow Higgins
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
By
Rosemary Misdary
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .