Rekubit Exchange:Massachusetts state troopers among 6 charged in commercial driver's license bribery scheme

BOSTON ―  Six people,Rekubit Exchange including two current and two former Massachusetts State Police troopers, were charged Tuesday in an alleged scheme to give passing scores for commercial driver's licenses in exchange for bribes, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

In a 74-count indictment, prosecutors accused the troopers of falsifying records and conspiring to give preferential treatment to at least 17 commercial driver's licenses (CDL) applicants from around May 2019 to January 2023. The troopers passed drivers who even failed their skills tests and used the code word "golden" to identify these applicants, according to the charging document.

Current state police Sgt. Gary Cederquist, 58, of Stoughton, and Trooper Joel Rogers, 54, of Bridgewater, were arrested Tuesday. Retired troopers Calvin Butner, 63, of Halifax, and Perry Mendes, 63, of Wareham, were taken into custody Monday in Florida.

Two civilians were also indicted: Scott Camara, 42, of Rehoboth, an instructor at a truck driving school in Brockton; and Eric Mathison, 47, of Boston, a water supply company employee.

The six face charges that include extortion, mail fraud, conspiracy, making false statements, and falsification of records.

Cederquist, Rogers, Mathison, and Camera appeared in federal court in Boston on Tuesday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Butner and Mendes are expected to appear at a later date.

"Today is a sober reminder that none of us are above the law," Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said during a news conference Tuesday morning. "The federal government has strict regulations to protect the public from death and injuries through ensuring that the operators of the rigs, traveling on highways and through neighborhoods have the skills required to operate them."

"They had no regard for the public safety consequences of their actions," Levy added.

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Alleged conspirators joked in text messages about applicants

The unsealed indictment alleges that the defendants gave passing scores inappropriately to at least two dozen drivers identified by investigators over the past five years. The drivers either failed to take all three required steps to obtain a commercial driver's license – a vehicle inspection, a basic skills exam, and a road test – took abbreviated versions; or did not score highly enough on any or all portions of the exam to earn a license.

The defendants are also alleged to have overlooked violations that are graded as automatic failures, such as failure to inspect the vehicle, the inability to control parts of a vehicle, and the passenger door swinging open repeatedly during the test.

In text messages between the alleged conspirators, the applicants were often described as "a mess," "idiot," "horrible," "brain dead," and even "loser." In one text, Cederquist alerted his "friend Conspirator" that it "looks like (the applicant's) first time on A TRUCK."

In referring to a water company employee seeking a commercial driver's license in 2020, Cederquist said to Mathison: "this kids an idiot, no idea what he's doing, (Mathison's boss) should be sending strippers," and, "He is stupid, he should have failed 10 times already."

The conspirators also used code words alluding to "golden handshakes," "golden treatment," and indicated that an applicant scheduled for a specific hour was to be "golden." The text threads were peppered with emojis, such as handshakes, thumbs-ups, and "laughing so hard I'm crying" faces.

Troopers received bribes including new snowblower, driveway

Levy said the conspiracy was a "quid pro quo" operation and the troopers allegedly gave passing grades to applicants identified as being able to bring value or favors to them.

One applicant was linked to a men's clothier company: "guy takes care of police; if you need a new suit or alterations," according to one text between the conspirators.

One unnamed state police conspirator requested a passing grade for a landscaper. "I need his boss to grass my front lawn," he said in a text thread with Cederquist, released in court documents. When the sergeant informed him that he had passed, he added, "I hope your lawn comes out nice."

Other applicants who were inappropriately given passing grades included the adult child of a former police officer, a firefighter, and a friend of another trooper.

In exchange for licenses, Cederquist allegedly had his driveway repaved — worth $10,000 — by a Worcester-based asphalt company. The sergeant also received a new $750 mailbox with a concrete stand and a new $1,911.44 snowblower, according to the complaint.

"Sgt. Cederquist allegedly used his official position as a Sergeant to obtain a stream of benefits not due to him," the indictment reads.

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Changes made to Massachusetts State Police unit

Col. John Mawn, interim superintendent of state police, said that upon learning of the federal investigation into the commercial driver’s license unit, the agency cooperated fully. In light of the allegations and irregularities uncovered by the probe, changes have been made in the unit including, modernization, closer supervision of operations, and assigning additional personnel to the unit.

The organization will also now require proctors to wear body cameras during all phases of the licensing exams. The state has also instituted time limits for the learning and testing procedure.

Levy said all the applicants who were inappropriately granted commercial driver's license have been identified.

"There are many problems on the roads these days," Levy said, alluding to the increase of road rage incidents over the past few years. "This (investigation) will add to the people's level of concern," adding that he hopes the investigation will serve as a warning and stem any similar conduct.

Latest incident involving the Massachusetts State Police

The alleged bribery scheme is the latest misconduct case involving state police.

In 2018, an overtime fraud scheme that included 46 current and retired troopers came to light. The troopers worked for the now-disbanded Troop E, which patrolled the Massachusetts Turnpike, and submitted for overtime pay for shifts they never worked or did not complete from 2015 until 2017.

According to authorities, the troopers said they issued falsified traffic tickets to make it appear as if they had been on duty.

The state's commercial driver’s license system was also criticized in 2019 after Volodymyr Zhukovsky, a commercial truck driver, crashed into a group of motorcyclists in northern New Hampshire, causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists. His license should have been suspended in Massachusetts at the time of the crash because of his DUI arrest in Connecticut about two months earlier.

Although Connecticut officials had notified the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, Zhukovskyy’s license was never revoked due to a backlog of out-of-state notifications about driving offenses.

Contributing: The Associated Press