Two current and two former Massachusetts State Police troopers are among six charged in connection with an alleged conspiracy to give passing scores to certain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) applicants, including individuals who had failed or did not take the CDL skills test, in exchange for bribes that included free spring water, a new driveway and a snow blower.
According to allegations in the the charging document, between May 2019 and January 2023, the troopers and others conspired to give preferential treatment to at least 17 CDL applicants by agreeing to give passing scores on their skills tests whether or not they actually passed, using the code word “golden” to identify these applicants who received special treatment.
Additionally, prosecutors allege that one trooper gave preferential treatment to four Class A CDL applicants who were state troopers by falsely reporting that each passed a Class A skills test. However, courts documents claim, in reality the four troopers did not pass the skills test and that they drove a vehicle which did not qualify as a Class A vehicle. The deal was allegedly arranged with a Brockton trucking company.
The following individuals have been indicted on three counts of conspiracy to falsify records; three counts of conspiracy to commit extortion; three counts of extortion; six counts of honest services mail fraud; 31 counts of falsification of records; 27 counts of false statements; and one count of perjury: Gary Cederquist, of Stoughton; Calvin Butner, of Halifax; Perry Mendes, of Wareham; Joel Rogers, of Bridgewater; Scott Camara, of Rehoboth; and Eric Mathison, of Boston.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. Each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, MSP Sergeant Cederquist was in charge of MSP’s CDL unit, of which Trooper Rogers and retired Troopers Butner and Mendes were members.
Members of MSP’s CDL unit were responsible for administering CDL skills tests. Test requirements for CDLs are established by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The CDL skills test is an in-person test that consists of three segments: Vehicle Inspection, in which an applicant is tested on their knowledge of the vehicle; Basic Control Skills, in which an applicant is tested on their ability to perform certain maneuvers; and the Road Test, in which an applicant is tested on their ability to drive a commercial vehicle on an open roadway. In Massachusetts, the pass rate was 48% in 2019, 44% in 2020, 41% in 2021 and 41% in 2022.
Test scores reported by members of MSP’s CDL unit are material to whether applicants meet federal requirements for, and therefore whether the state Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) is permitted to issue CDLs to the applicants. Class A CDLs are required to drive combination vehicles such as tractor-trailers. Class B CDLs are required to drive heavy single vehicles including box trucks and school buses.
Butner and Mendes were arrested Monday, January 29 in Florida. They will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. The remaining defendants were arrested Tuesday, January 30 and were to appear in federal court in Boston at 2 p.m. on that day.
The court documents claim that Cederquist conspired with his friend Mathison, who worked for a spring water company, to give passing scores to certain license applicants affiliated with the water company. The indictment alleges that Cederquist gave passing scores to three water company applicants who actually failed, in exchange for bribes of free inventory from the water company, such as cases of bottled Fiji, VOSS and Essentia water, cases of bottled Arizona Iced Tea, and coffee and tea products.
The indictment further alleges that Cederquist sent Mathison a text describing one of these applicants as “an idiot,” who had “no idea what he’s doing,” and “should have failed about 10 times already.” Cederquist then allegedly texted Mathison that Mathison’s boss “owes big time.”
The indictment also alleges that Butner assisted with this conspiracy, including by giving Mathison a key to a Stoughton yard so that Mathison could drop off water company inventory even when the site was closed. The indictment alleges that Mendes also took part in the conspiracy.
According to the charging document, in addition to Mathison’s bribes of free inventory from the water company, Cederquist accepted additional bribes in exchange for using his official position as the Sergeant in charge of MSP’s CDL Unit including a $750 granite post and mailbox; a new driveway valued at over $10,000; and a snow blower valued at nearly $2,000. Cederquist allegedly described one such applicant as “horrible,” and “brain dead,” but gave him a passing score anyway in exchange for the snow blower.
Along with Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Michael J. Krol, of Homeland Security Investigations in New England and Christopher A. Scharf, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine J. Wichers and Adam W. Deitch are prosecuting the case.
The federal investigation remains ongoing.
Last April, several people pled guilty to a bribery scam involving non-commercial driver’s license tests within the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance Personal Auto Law Enforcement Massachusetts
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
AT&T Says Data From Around 109M Customer Accounts Illegally Downloaded 
Commercial Lines Not at Top of Cycle; ‘Thieves’ Fuel Social Inflation: CEOs 
Homebuilders Cut on ‘Sluggish’ Housing Market, Florida Woes 
Damage From Hurricane Beryl May Cost Insurers $2.7B in US, $510M in Caribbean: KCC 
