BOSTON — A trooper, who had taken a plea deal after being accused of stealing more than a $1,000 worth of merchandise — including golf balls — from Target, no longer works for Mass State Police.

Zachariah Kent resigned during an ongoing disciplinary process and received a dishonorable discharge, a State Police spokesperson confirmed to the Herald Thursday.

The State Police suspended Kent without pay in 2024 after the shoplifting accusations came to light.

Kent took an Alfred plea deal last year which acknowledged that prosecutors had sufficient evidence but allowed him to avoid admitting guilt. As a part of the agreement, Kent paid Target $1,000 and is barred from entering their stores.

“The Massachusetts State Police does not tolerate theft or dishonesty, and we hold our members accountable to the highest professional standards,” the agency said in a statement at the time.

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette initially reported the shoplifting allegations from court records, which said that Kent had stolen the items using a method called skip-scanning — when a customer avoids ringing in some merchandise during self-checkout.

Kent, originally from Sutton, graduated from the State Police Academy in 2022 and did not have a disciplinary record previous to this incident, the Herald previously reported.

The resignation comes as several other Staties face both internal and criminal investigations into their alleged misconduct. Last month, four officers were charged with manslaughter in the 2024 death of a trooper trainee and accusations arose that Sgt. Scott Quigley drove drunk during a 2023 cruiser crash that injured a disabled man who died in the hospital a month later.

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