A former Sergeant with the Massachusetts State Police has been found guilty of "orchestrating a series of schemes to give false passing scores" on CDL tests in a years-long bribery and extortion conspiracy and now faces decades in prison and more than $1 million in fines.
Those schemes saw police partnering with a local beverage hauler to mint fake CDLs for drivers that sometimes didn't even take the skills test in exchange for bribes like fancy bottled waters, iced teas, and even a new driveway.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney's office in Massachusetts, Gary Cederquist, 59, of Stoughton, was convicted on multiple counts, two of "conspiracy to commit extortion" and one of extortion alone. That adds to a long list of convictions for Cederquist of mail fraud, conspiracy to falsify records, and 19 counts of falsification of records and 17 false statements. Cederquist was acquitted on a few counts in what was a 74-count indictment that included three other MSP troopers and two civilians.
- Former Trooper Calvin Butner, 64, of Halifax;
- Former Trooper Perry Mendes, 64, of Wareham;
- Former Trooper Joel Rogers, 56, of Bridgewater;
- Scott Camara, 44, of Rehoboth; and
- Eric Mathison, 48, of Boston.
Together, the MSP individuals and some of their friends who worked at a beverage company employing CDL drivers used code words to pass applicants who had failed or did not even take the CDL skills tests.
In exchange for the passing tests, Cederquist was provided beverages and other favors from around February 2019 to January 2023, according to the attorney's office. "Cederquist accepted a variety of bribes including inventory from Mathison’s water company valued in the thousands of dollars; a $750 granite post and mailbox; a new driveway valued at over $10,000; and a snowblower valued at nearly $2,000."
All the while, court records revealed Cederquist sending texts to co-conspirators describing some of the applicants as “horrible,” and “brain dead," though he passed that latter applicant anyway in exchange for a snowblower.
All CDL recipients identified as not qualified during the course of this investigation have been reported to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles. "All of Cederquist’s co-defendants have accepted responsibility for their involvement in the conspiracy," said the attorney's office. "Butner, Mendes, Camara and Mathison have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing."
"It is never a good day when a member of law enforcement is convicted of a crime, especially when it is a crime that compromises public safety," said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley. "Gary Cederquist chose bribery and extortion over his oath to protect the community which he was sworn to serve. His greed put the public at risk when he devised a scheme to issue commercial driver’s licenses to applicants who had never taken a real test to operate heavy commercial vehicles on the roads and highways of Massachusetts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has the utmost respect for law enforcement, but we will not stand idly by if they violate the law."
The original indictments came down in January of 2024. In April this year, a letter to the DOT from the Commercial Vehicle Training Association (CVTA) and the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driver Schools (NAPFTDS) called out the "threat" from "unscrupulous" training schools, but often actual CDL tests are administered by state police. Cederquist was in charge of MSP’s CDL Unit, of which former Troopers Butner, Mendes and Rogers were members. In Massachusetts, the pass rate was 48% in 2019, 44% in 2020, 41% in 2021 and 41% in 2022.
[Related: CDL schools call out 'threat' of 'unscrupulous training entities']
Homeland Security Investigations New England Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol noted Cederquist turned a "blind eye to the potential public safety implications of ill-prepared and unqualified commercial truck drivers navigating our streets and our highways. Public servants are held to a higher standard and Cederquist not only let the citizens of the Commonwealth down but also disgraced the thousands of state troopers who so proudly and honorably wear the Massachusetts State Police uniform.”
Elise Chawaga, the principal assistant inspector general for investigations with the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, also underscored that the verdict sent "a strong message to those who may be motivated by greed to abuse their positions" and that the “DOT OIG remains committed to working with our Federal law enforcement and prosecutorial partners to uphold motor carrier rules and regulations, which are integral to maintaining safety on our Nation’s roadways.”
At least "three dozen applicants," some who hadn't even taken the CDL skills test, were instructed to use the code word golden or "golden handshake" to receive special treatment and passing scores.
According to the attorney's office, Cederquist and co-conspirators' text messages described a "number of 'golden' applicants as performing poorly on their skills tests. However, all of the applicants received passing scores."
Cederquist's schemes involved CDLs for six MSP Troopers, none of whom took a "real CDL skills test," according to the attorney's office. "For four of the Trooper applicants, Cederquist conspired with his friend Camara, who worked for a truck-driving school in Brockton, to accomplish this offense."
Other text records reveal Cederquist conspiring with his friend Mathison, who worked for a beverage company, to give passing scores and CDLs to applicants affiliated with Mathison's company.
Cederquist accepted bribes of free inventory for years, including cases of bottled Fiji, VOSS and Essentia water, cases of bottled Arizona Iced Tea, coffee and tea products and boxes of Twizzlers and Swedish Fish, "all of which Mathison delivered to an office trailer at the CDL test site in Stoughton."
Cederquist and others who were convicted now face sentencing in January next year. Conspiracy, extortion, mail fraud and records falsification charges all individually provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, false statements charges up to five years in prison and another $250K fine.
