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yesterday

Five MBTA Employees Indicted for Falsifying Red Line Track Inspections

Surveillance video from Cabot Yard shows employees repairing personal vehicles instead of conducting mandated safety checks on the transit tracks.

Surveillance footage showing then-MBTA workers allegedly not working while they were supposed to have been inspecting Red Line tracks.

Overview

  • Federal prosecutors indicted former inspectors Ronald Gamble (62), Jensen Vatel (42), Nathalie Mendes (53) and Andy Vicente (36) along with current employee Brian Pfaffinger (47) on charges of record falsification and false statements.
  • Prosecutors allege that between Sept. 3 and Oct. 15, 2024, the inspectors submitted false reports claiming completed track inspections while surveillance footage shows them inside Cabot Yard working on other tasks.
  • Supervising inspector Pfaffinger is accused of knowing about the scheme and directing his team to work on private vehicles, including his own, during official shifts.
  • Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison for falsifying records plus potential fines of up to $250,000 and supervised release under federal sentencing guidelines.
  • The Department of Justice announced the charges Thursday with support from the DOT and DOL inspector generals and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the defendants are set to appear in Boston federal court today.