A retired Massachusetts State Police sergeant was convicted Friday of plotting to issue commercial driver’s licenses to applicants who flunked the test or never even took it in exchange for gifts, ranging from cases of bottled water to a home driveway renovation.
In a split-verdict after a three-week trial and three days of deliberations in federal court in Boston, jurors convicted Gary Cederquist of 48 counts of conspiracy, extortion, honest services mail fraud, falsifying records, and making false statements, according to prosecutors.
Cederquist, 59, of Stoughton, was acquitted of nine additional charges, including allegations that he extorted a snowblower and a granite mailbox and post as part of the corrupt licensing scheme.
US District Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for July 24.
“It is never a good day when a member of law enforcement is convicted of a crime, especially a crime that compromises public safety,’’ US Attorney Leah B. Foley said in a statement after the verdict.
Cederquist “chose bribery and extortion over his oath to protect the community which he was sworn to serve,’’ Foley said.
Three other former troopers who were indicted along with Cederquist resolved their cases prior to trial. Two of them, Calvin Butner and Perry Mendes, pleaded guilty as part of plea agreements and are awaiting sentencing. The third former trooper, Joel Rogers, was given a deferred prosecution agreement, which means charges will be dismissed if he abides by certain conditions.
Two other men, Scott Camara, who worked at a commercial driving school in Brockton, and Eric Mathison, who worked at a water company, were charged in the scheme and also pleaded guilty prior to trial and are awaiting sentencing.
“It was a fair trial,’’ Cederquist’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, said after the verdict. “He appreciates the work the jury put into the case.’’
He added that Cederquist “is contemplating’’ an appeal, but will decide after he is sentenced.
Until his indictment in January 2024, Cederquist had been in charge of the State Police commercial driving license unit, which administers skills tests for applicants seeking CDLs. The licenses are required to drive heavy vehicles, including tractor-trailers, box trucks, oil tankers, and school buses.
The verdict confirms that Cederquist abused his authority “to recklessly bypass long-established testing and safety parameters for commercial driver’s license applicants,“ said Michael J. Krol, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations New England. ’’He did so only to enrich himself, while turning a blind eye to the potential public safety implications of ill-prepared and unqualified commercial truck drivers navigating our streets and our highways.’’
Prosecutors allege the scheme resulted in more than three dozen people getting commercial driver’s licenses between about February 2019 and January 2023 without passing the required tests.
Prosecutors presented text messages to jurors that were exchanged between the troopers about giving a “golden handshake’’ or “golden,’’ meaning a passing score, regardless of how an applicant performed on the driver’s test.
In some cases, prosecutors allege, troopers exchanged text messages describing some of the drivers they passed as “an idiot,’’ “a mess,’’ or “brain dead.’’
Applicants given preferential treatment on driver’s tests included fellow troopers, relatives of active and retired police officers, a Seekonk firefighter, and a driver with connections to a tow company in Canton, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors alleged that Cederquist extorted a stream of benefits from different businesses in exchange for giving passing grades on skills tests administered by the State Police unit in Stoughton.
Prosecutors alleged that an asphalt company co-owner provided asphalt for Cederquist’s driveway, valued at more than $10,000, and was later told that his son’s application for a commercial driver’s license was “all set’’ and “in the mail,’’ even though he never took the test.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that Cederquist conspired with Mathison, his friend who worked for a water company, to give passing scores to CDL applicants affiliated with the company. In exchange, prosecutors alleged, Cederquist accepted bribes of free inventory from the water company, including cases of expensive bottled water, coffee, and tea, as well as boxes of Twizzlers and Swedish Fish. The products were delivered to an office trailer at the CDL test site in Stoughton.
Cederquist sent his friend a text describing one of the CDL applicants as “an idiot,’’ who had “no idea what he’s doing,’’ and “should have failed about 10 times already,’’ according to prosecutors.
Shelley Murphy can be reached at shelley.murphy@globe.com. Follow her @shelleymurph.
