Ex-Mass. state trooper found guilty in commercial driver's license scheme

Yahoo

02-05-2025

A former Massachusetts State Police sergeant has been convicted on multiple charges in connection with a years-long bribery and extortion scheme involving falsified results on road skills tests.
Gary Cederquist, 59, of Stoughton, was found guilty Friday by a federal jury of giving false passing scores to multiple Commercial Driver's License (CDL) applicants, including individuals who had failed or never took a CDL skills test, U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley's office announced.
Read More: 'Golden handshake': How feds say troopers took bribes to pass unqualified drivers
Cederquist was convicted of the following charges:
Two counts of conspiracy to commit extortion
One count of extortion
Six counts of honest services mail fraud
Three counts of conspiracy to falsify records
Nineteen counts of falsification of records
17 counts of false statements
Cederquist could face up to 20 years in prison on each charge of conspiracy to falsify records, conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, honest services mail fraud and falsification of records. The charges of false statements each provide for a sentence of up to five years in prison.
Read More: 2 Mass. State Troopers indicted for alleged bribery scheme suspended without pay
Cederquist could also be slapped with millions of dollars in legal fines. His sentencing is scheduled for July 24.
The former sergeant was originally charged in a 74-count indictment along with three other Mass. State Police troopers and two other men.
They are:
Calvin Butner, 63, of Halifax, a retired state trooper
Perry Mendes, 63, of Wareham, a retired state trooper
Joel Rogers, 54, of Bridgewater, a state trooper
Scott Camara, 42, of Rehoboth
Eric Mathison, 47, of Boston
All men have since admitted to being involved in the conspiracy. Butner, Mendes, Camara and Mathison have all pleaded guilty to their charges and are awaiting sentencing, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Cederquist was in charge of the state police's CDL Unit. Butner, Mendes and Rogers were members, as well. Unit members are responsible for administering CDL skills tests for Class A (i.e. tractor-trailers) and Class B (i.e. box trucks, oil tankers, school buses) licenses.
Read More: State Police identified in sweeping indictment of bribery scheme for driver's licenses
From about February 2019 and January 2023, Cederquist and his co-conspirators gave passing scores to at least 30 CDL applicants — including six Mass. state police troopers — regardless if they actually passed the test.
Oftentimes, the instructors would take the test themselves in exchange for bribes, including inventory from Mathison's water company valued in the thousands of dollars.
Read More: State troopers, alleged accomplices plead not guilty to license bribery scheme
Other bribes that Cederquist took were a $750 granite post and mailbox, a new driveway valued at over $10,000 and a snowblower valued at nearly $2,000, according to prosecutors. Cederquist once called an applicant 'horrible,' and 'brain dead,' but gave him a passing score in exchange for the snowblower.
Cederquist and his co-conspirators used the code word 'golden handshake' or 'golden' for these applicants.
Anyone who received a false passing score on their CDL skills test from this scheme have been reported to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
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Read the original article on MassLive.