6 people, including current and former state police, charged with bribery conspiracy

Six people, including current and former Massachusetts state troopers, have been charged in an alleged bribery conspiracy to give passing scores to commercial driver's license applicants, the federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

"It's always disheartening to discuss allegations that a fellow member of law enforcement has violated his or her oath," said acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Josh Levy when announcing the charges at the federal courthouse in Boston. "Yet preserving the integrity of our legal system, including holding law enforcement accountable, is paramount."

Two current state troopers, two former state troopers and two civilians were charged in the 74-count indictment of participating in a scheme to falsify results of commercial license tests in exchange for goods. Among the goods exchanged for passing grades were a new driveway valued at $10,000, a new snowblower valued at $2,000 and landscaping work, prosecutors alleged.

The two current troopers, identified as Sgt. Gary Cederquist and Trooper Joel Rogers in the indictment, and two civilians, named Scott Camara and Eric Mathison, were arrested on the charges in Massachusetts on Tuesday. Two former troopers, identified as Calvin Butner and Perry Mendes, were arrested in Florida on Monday.

The alleged scheme to falsify results began with three troopers in August 2018, and a fourth trooper joined in 2022. The civilians charged are accused with providing goods or conspiring with troopers, Levy said.

Commercial drivers licenses allow drivers to operate commercial vehicles. Applicants must pass both written exams and road test to obtain the license.

Cederquist was in charge of the state police's Commercial Driver's License Unit; Rogers, Butner and Mendes were members of the unit, per the indictment.

The unit was tasked with administering the license skills tests, which are broken into three parts. Applicants are tested on their knowledge of their vehicle, on their ability to perform maneuvers and on their skill on the open road, according to the attorney’s office.

The licenses are required to drive vehicles like tractor trailers, box trucks and school buses.

The average pass rate for the test was 41% in 2022 and 2021.

In text messages presented in the indictment, troopers allegedly messaged each other about “golden treatments” and “golden handshakes,” Levy said. In another exchange, one trooper allegedly described a license applicant as a “mess” while completing their road maneuvers, saying the driver owes the trooper prime rib for passing the test.

Here are several other text messages prosecutors say Cederquist and Butner sent, according to the indictment, to applicants who received a passing score on their skills test:

Prosecutors have so far identified over two dozen commercial licenses given to drivers who did not actually pass the test and have given that information to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, according to the U.S. attorney. The prosecutor noted that the investigation is ongoing and they are working to identify additional commercial license holders who did not pass or take their road test.