No jail for Phoenix police officer who double-dipped in 2nd job

PHOENIX (AP) - A Phoenix police officer who worked full time but fraudulently collected pay at a second job as an investigator for the state will avoid jail time.

The Office of the Arizona Attorney General announced Friday that 51-year-old Carl Ramirez was sentenced this week to 18 months of probation.

The sentence was part of an agreement that he plead guilty to a felony count each of attempted fraud schemes and practices and of theft. A third charge of computer tampering has been dropped. Ramirez also had to give up his police officer certification and pay more than $7,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors say Ramirez began a new job in March 2020 as a senior investigator for the Arizona Department of Economic Security. However, he returned to duty as a Phoenix police officer five months later but still retained his current job.

Investigators say time cards and payroll records show there is no way Ramirez could have worked full-time at both jobs simultaneously. His in-person shifts as an officer overlapped with his teleworking shift. For seven weeks, Ramirez only worked full-time as an officer.

He was indicted in June 2021.