A Boston man, named Eric Mathison, entered a guilty plea last Friday, for participating in an extortion conspiracy that involved former Massachusetts State Police (MSP) troopers. According to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the scheme provided certain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) applicants with unearned passing scores in exchange for bribes. In a legal system where the scales are to balance, the weight of corruption has caused them to tip, as one man’s plea reveals depths of deceit.
Mathison, connected to a water company that needed drivers with CDLs for its delivery vehicles, is set to be sentenced on June 13, 2025, facing a maximum of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and could be fined up to $250,000. The indictment, a 74-count behemoth, initially charged five other individuals in January 2024, showcasing that when it comes to bending rules, it often takes more than one pair of hands. Specifically, Gary Cederquist, a former MSP Sergeant at the helm of the MSP’s CDL Unit, is alleged to have doled out passing grades to applicants who had otherwise failed their CDL skills test, or at best, only partially completed them.
Detailed as part of his guilty plea, Mathison's role included delivering premium bottled waters like Fiji and Essentia, along with other beverages, to an MSP trailer as part of the bribe to Cederquist. The traded luxury liquids, intended as a quid pro quo, illuminated the brazen barter system established within what should have been an inherently objective evaluation process. Mathison admitted to negotiating directly with Cederquist about the CDL applicants, including receiving texts from him describing one applicant as "an idiot," who "no idea what he's doing," and "should have failed about 10 times already," as per the announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The case is indicative of a broader malaise where public trust is the real casualty in schemes where safety and regulations should reign supreme. Now, as federal agencies unwind the tangle of corruption, they spotlight the often-invisible threads that bind the integrity of public systems to the conduct of individuals. Further underscoring this breach of trust, in a conversation allegedly between Mathison and Cederquist, Mathison inquired, "Hows the trailer holding," met with a reply from Cederquist stating an urgent need for the trailer to be re-supplied with luxury water brands, teas, and energy drinks, even making a specific request for a "truckload of large water," as detailed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, along with Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General's efforts in the announcement, signify Government entities still fervent in pursuit of individuals who compromise the impartiality expected from state employees. The prosecutorial cogs turn, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine J. Wichers and Adam W. Deitch leading the charge, making clear that the gravity of these actions does not go unrecognized or unchallenged in the eyes of justice.
