Boston Man Pleads Guilty to Extortion Conspiracy Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts Dateline: Boston, Massachusetts Date: 24 March 2025 Subjects: American Government , Crime, Driver Licensing, Trucking

Defendant involved in Massachusetts State Police Commercial Driver’s License bribery scheme

BOSTON – A Boston man pleaded guilty on March 21, 2025 to his role in an extortion conspiracy involving former Massachusetts State Police (MSP) troopers who allegedly conspired to give false passing scores to certain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) applicants who had failed or had taken only partial CDL skills test, in exchange for bribes.

Eric Mathison, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for June 13, 2025. In January 2024, Mathison was charged in a 74-count indictment along with five others in the alleged conspiracy and related schemes.

Mathison, who worked for a water company that employed drivers who needed CDLs to drive their delivery vehicles, admitted to his role in an alleged conspiracy with others including former MSP Sergeant Gary Cederquist, then in charge of MSP’s CDL Unit, to give false passing scores to certain CDL applicants affiliated with the water company. It is alleged that Cederquist gave passing scores to multiple applicants who actually failed the CDL skills test, as well as others who took only a partial test, in exchange for bribes of free inventory from the water company, such as cases of bottled Fiji, VOSS and Essentia water, cases of bottled Arizona Iced Tea and coffee and tea products, all of which Mathison delivered to an office trailer at the CDL test site in Stoughton. Mathison admitted to his alleged communications with Cederquist about particular CDL applicants, their performance on the skills test, and inventory from the water company that Cederquist allegedly requested and that Mathison delivered. For example, Mathison admitted that he received texts, allegedly from Cederquist, describing one water company applicant as “an idiot,” who had “no idea what he’s doing,” and “should have failed about 10 times already.” It is alleged that Cederquist then gave this applicant a passing score. On another occasion, Mathison admitted that he asked Cederquist, “Hows the trailer holding,” to which Cederquist allegedly responded, “In desperate need of restocking,” along with a specific request for, among other things, premium bottled water, tea, energy drinks and a “truckload of large water.”

The charge of conspiracy to commit extortion provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Christopher A. Scharf, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine J. Wichers and Adam W. Deitch of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit are prosecuting the case.

Updated March 24, 2025