A second Massachusetts State Police trooper has been dishonorably discharged after being accused of taking bribes in exchange for giving passing scores on commercial driving tests. Trooper Joel Rogers retired from the department and was suspended without pay on January 31st following charges of involvement in a bribery scheme for commercial drivers license applicants. This comes after another trooper, Sgt. Gary Cederquist, was also dishonorably discharged after deciding to retire.
In total, six people, including four state troopers and two civilians, were charged in the alleged scheme which involved falsifying records to give preferential treatment to drivers taking their CDL test. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts stated that the troopers gave guaranteed passing scores to certain applicants, even when they failed the skills test, with one trooper referring to this as providing “golden” treatment.
The Registry of Motor Vehicles downgraded the licenses of over two dozen drivers who were found not to have passed the test as a result of the investigation. The State Police department is also conducting its own investigation to determine the extent of involvement of its members in the bribery conspiracy.
Decisions regarding the pension eligibility of the retired state troopers involved in the scheme will be made by the State Retirement Board. One of the retired state troopers is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court.
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