Retired MSP sergeant will get jail time for driver’s license scheme
Crime
“Put merely, [Gary] Cederquist is the very embodiment of public corruption,” prosecutors mentioned.
A former Massachusetts State Police sergeant was sentenced to 6 years in jail Tuesday for masterminding a scheme to rig business driver’s license exams in trade for bribes that ranged from snacks and water bottles to a brand new driveway.
Gary Cederquist, 60, of Stoughton, was one in all 4 troopers charged within the State Police CDL scandal in January 2024. The one defendant to go to trial, he was convicted of dozens of federal prices earlier this 12 months.
Cederquist took bribes, extorted folks, falsified information, and “jeopardized the protection of everybody on the roads and highways of Massachusetts (and past),” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
“Put merely, Cederquist is the very embodiment of public corruption,” they added.
U.S. District Choose Indira Talwani sentenced Cederquist to 6 years in federal jail and two years of supervised launch, additionally ordering him to pay a $30,000 positive, $18,300 in restitution, and a particular evaluation of $4,800. He’ll report back to jail Nov. 25.
“I deeply remorse the selections that I made, letting down my household, my coworkers, present members of the State Police, previous members of the State Police, and future members of the State Police,” Cederquist mentioned in a Boston courtroom Tuesday, in response to The Boston Globe. “I’d wish to say I’m sorry.”
Of their sentencing memo, prosecutors Adam Deitch and Christine Wichers mentioned Cederquist “demonstrated a willingness to commerce his badge and police uniform for the oddest and greediest array of fabric items: a brand new driveway, a snowblower, a mailbox, premium bottled water, and Swedish fish.”
They referred to as for a nine-year jail sentence, arguing the punishment should replicate each the gravity of Cederquist’s conduct “in addition to the terrifying potential penalties of what he did.”
Kevin Reddington, Cederquist’s legal professional, conceded the ex-trooper’s misconduct was “a critical blemish on an in any other case respectable legislation enforcement profession.”
In a sentencing memo of his personal, Reddington mentioned Cederquist acknowledges he had an obligation to make sure the CDL candidates have been secure and competent drivers. The previous sergeant additionally is aware of that his failure to take action “was a critical betrayal of public belief and, as the federal government has repeatedly argued, an endangerment to public security,” Reddington wrote.
In line with prosecutors, Cederquist conspired with subordinates within the State Police CDL Unit to commerce passing check scores for bribes, finally turning the unit right into a “prison enterprise.”
Cederquist “completely did not uphold the values required for his place and violated the general public’s belief,” prosecutors asserted, accusing him of demonstrating a “core dishonesty” that was “surprising and inexcusable.”
Reddington, in the meantime, pointed to the a long time Cederquist served in legislation enforcement previous to taking on the CDL unit in 2017. He famous in his sentencing memo that Cederquist joined the Metropolitan District Fee Police in 1987, then turned a trooper when that company merged with the State Police 5 years later.
Cederquist retired in January 2024 and acquired a dishonorable discharge.
Whereas Cederquist didn’t observe a number of of his co-conspirators in making a plea settlement with prosecutors, Reddington famous the ex-trooper didn’t testify in his personal protection and introduced no proof apart from cross-examination.
“Clearly the defendant was effectively conscious and very remorseful of what constitutes the unhappy finish of a[n] in any other case respectable legislation enforcement profession,” Reddington wrote.
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