Ex-Mass. State Police sergeant sentenced to federal prison for CDL bribery, extortion scheme

BOSTON — A former Massachusetts State Police sergeant has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for orchestrating a widespread bribery and extortion scheme involving commercial driver’s license applicants, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Gary Cederquist, 60, of Stoughton, was sentenced on Oct. 14, 2025, by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley. His sentence includes six years in prison, two years of supervised release, a $30,000 fine, and $18,300 in restitution and forfeiture.

Cederquist, who led MSP’s CDL Unit, was convicted in May 2025 of multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit extortion, honest services mail fraud, falsification of records, and false statements.

Between February 2019 and January 2023, Cederquist and co-conspirators gave passing scores to at least three dozen CDL applicants, some of whom failed or never took the skills test. The group used the code word “golden handshake” to identify applicants receiving special treatment.

Court documents obtained by Boston 25 News at the time of Cederquist’s indictment in January 2024 showed he and a co-defendant in the case sent the following texts about some of the applicants:

• “Your buddy passed yesterday he owes you that’s an automatic Fail leaving the door open!!!;”
• “This guys a mess. Lol. He owes u a prime rib 6inch. 4 compounds and no watch;”
• “Your buddy is a mess. He owes you big time. He will be fine though. Anything for you;”
• “Golden mess. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣;”
• “He’s a mess Class A truck 2psi loss with truck running truck cut our again while timing 🤣🤣🤣🤣;” and
• “Total mess this guy I think some time we should just do what we can but not golden.”

Bribes included $8,300 in bottled water and beverages, boxes of coffee and tea, cases of candy, a $750 granite post and mailbox, a driveway worth over $10,000, and a snowblower valued at nearly $2,000.

Cederquist also falsified test results for six MSP troopers and applicants connected to a water company.

Five co-defendants in the case include:

• Calvin Butner, former MSP trooper: 3 months in prison
• Perry Mendes, former MSP trooper: 1 month in prison
• Joel Rogers, former MSP trooper: pending sentencing
• Eric Mathison, civilian: 1 year and 1 day in prison
• Scott Camara, civilian: 1 month in prison

The four troopers made the following salaries in recent years:

• Cederquist: $194,191 in 2023, $331,619 in 2022, and $244,888 in 2021
• Rogers: $175,804 in 2023, $184,881 in 2022, $161,327 in 2021
• Butner: $81,378 in 2023, $159,893 in 2022, $157,166 in 2021
• Mendes: $2,000 in 2023, $94,721 in 2022, $178,632 in 2021

All unqualified CDL holders identified during the investigation have been reported to the Massachusetts RMV.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2025 Cox Media Group