The “Golden Handshake” by Massachusett's State Police Trooper puts 26 unqualified truckers on the street – New Bedford Guide

In a shocking betrayal of public trust, Gary Cederquist, a 59-year-old former Sergeant of the State Police from Stoughton, was condemned before Boston in Boston for almost 50 charges, including extortion, email fraud and falsification of recordings.

From 2019 to 2023 Cederquist orchestrated a threeth bribery scheme in the CDL unit (Codl) of the Massachusetts State Police, which he and the co-verwörer formers Troopers Calvin Butner, Perry Mendes, Joel Rogers, and civilians who are devoting themselves to the Stabmather skills. Operate heavy vehicles such as tractor-plug and boxing trucks.

Massachusetts Department of Justice Photo.

In January 2024, Cederquist was charged with three other MSP soldiers and two civilians in an indictment against 74 points:

• Former soldier Calvin Butner, 64, from Halifax;
• Former Trooper Perry Mendes, 64, from Wareham;
• Former soldier Joel Rogers, 56, from Bridgewater;
• Scott Camara, 44, by Rehoboth; And
• Eric Mathison, 48, from Boston.

The group used the code word “Golden Handshake” to record applicants who received preferred treatment, often in exchange for bribes. These ranged from a driveway of 10,000 US dollars and a snow blower of 2,000 US dollars to bottle water, coffee and sweets from Mathison's Water Company worth thousands of dollars.

In one case, Cederquist Mathison wrote about an applicant who was “an idiot” and “should fail about ten times” because Mathison's boss “owes great time”. Cederquist even falsified the values ​​for six co-soldiers, which falsifies with Camara, who led a truck driving school, to avoid tests.

Massachusetts Department of Justice Photo.

“It is a dark day when the greed of a law enforcement officer endangered public security,” said US lawyer Leah Foley. “The Cederquist scheme has laid unrestricted drivers behind the wheels of massive vehicles and risk life on the streets of Massachusetts.” Elise Chawaga from the Ministry of Transport Inspector added: “This judgment sends a clear message: abuse your position and imagine the full power of justice.”

The scandal interpreted defects in a CDL system in which only 41% of applicants existed in 2022 and underlined the difficulty of the test and the risk of bypassing it. It is not the first problem for the Massachusetts State Police, which was exposed to an overtime fraud scandal from 2015-2017 with 46 soldiers. Since then, the CDL unit has implemented reforms, including Body cameras, surprise supervisory visits and updated training.

Cederquist's co -swords are guilty and expected from the conviction, while Cederquist is facing up to 20 years in prison on July 24, 2025. All non -qualified CDL recipients were reported to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, which was previously killed in New Hampshire in New Hampshire after an accident. This masonry, which means that it is now open to the public.