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Massachusetts man convicted in CDL bribery scam

Former State Police sergeant accepted items ranging from new driveway to bottled water

Steve Barrett
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Some Massachusetts applicants for CDLs were passed even if they had failed the skills test. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
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Key Takeaways:

  • Former Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Gary Cederquist was found guilty of accepting bribes in exchange for passing CDL applicants, regardless of test performance.
  • The bribes ranged from a new driveway to smaller gifts, and the scheme involved multiple troopers and civilians.
  • Cederquist was convicted on charges including extortion and mail fraud, but acquitted on some other charges.
  • Following the scandal, the Massachusetts State Police CDL unit implemented reforms such as mandatory body cameras and increased supervisory oversight.
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A former sergeant with the Massachusetts State Police is to be sentenced July 24 after he was found guilty in a scheme to accept bribes in exchange for providing CDL applicants passing test scores.

Gary Cederquist, 59, of Stoughton, Massachusetts, was convicted on Friday by a federal jury. He had accepted bribes ranging from a new $10,000 driveway to a granite post and mailbox to cases of bottled water, The Boston Herald reported.

Among the dozens of charges on which Cederquist was convicted were extortion, honest services mail fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion. He was acquitted of nine related charges.

Cederquist, two other troopers and two civilians were accused in connection with the scheme, which was conducted from mid-2019 to early 2023, according to The Associated Press. Four of the five have pleaded guilty.

The officers passed dozens of drivers who had failed CDL skills tests or hadn’t even taken the tests, letting them know they had passed through a text and the word “golden.”

Cederquist called one applicant “brain dead” and “horrible” but passed him in exchange for a snowblower, the Herald reported.

“It is never a good day when a member of law enforcement is convicted of a crime, especially when it is a crime that compromises public safety,” U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said in a news release. “Gary Cederquist chose bribery and extortion over his oath to protect the community which he was sworn to serve. His greed put the public at risk when he devised a scheme to issue commercial driver’s licenses to applicants who had never taken a real test to operate heavy commercial vehicles on the roads and highways of Massachusetts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has the utmost respect for law enforcement, but we will not stand idly by if they violate the law.”

The AP noted that the CDL unit of the Massachusetts State Police, where Cederquist was in charge, has made several reforms in recent years, including:

  • Requiring that body cameras be worn during exams.
  • Conducting more frequent unannounced visits to the unit by supervisors.
  • Having examiners at training sites.
  • Developing new training procedures.

The pass rate on the CDL skills test in Massachusetts was 48% in 2019, 44% in 2020, 41% in 2021 and 41% in 2022, the Herald reported.

Related:

Feds charge Massachusetts state troopers in alleged CDL bribery scheme

Steve Barrett

A copy editor for FreightWaves since 2019, Steve Barrett has worked as an editor and/or reporter for The Associated Press as well as newspapers in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Nebraska. He also served as a senior managing editor for a medical marketing company, collaborating with some of the nation's most respected health care organizations and specialists in major markets in New York and Pennsylvania. He earned a Master of Mass Communications degree from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Spanish from the University of South Dakota.