A person who forked over 1000’s of {dollars} value of bottled water and sweet to a Massachusetts State Police sergeant in alternate for passing grades on his firm’s drivers’ industrial license exams is scheduled to be sentenced this week.
Eric Mathison, 48, of East Boston, pleaded responsible in March to 1 rely of conspiracy to commit extortion. He was considered one of six charged in January of final 12 months in a 74-count indictment targeted on the MSP’s Business Driver’s Licensing unit. He’s scheduled for sentencing on Wednesday. Prosecutors are asking for 2 years in jail whereas the protection sentencing memo asks for probation.
“Mathison talked about aspects of the scheme — and enacted it — openly and casually and treated it — that is, an extortion conspiracy involving a sergeant in the Massachusetts State Police and jeopardizing public safety — as if it was all a big joke,” prosecutors Adam Deitch and Christine Wichers wrote of their sentencing memo.
He was concerned in a conspiracy that these concerned referred to as the “golden handshake”: an computerized passing grade — no matter skill — for industrial driver license candidates who had been related to the quid professional quo.
On the middle of the conspiracy was then-Sgt. Gary Cederquist, who ran the CDL Unit in Stoughton and, prosecutors say in a sentencing memo, “supervised every other participant in the scheme, and drove the extortion conspiracy.”
Cederquist and different troopers on his crew handed over CDLs for presents like a brand new driveway valued at $10,000 and a $2,000 snow blower. Or, within the case of Mathison, common deliveries of premium bottled water, espresso and tea pods and sweet like Twizzlers and Swedish Fish, which prosecutors conservatively valued at greater than $8,300.
Mathison labored for the water firm Belmont Springs, based on court docket paperwork, which wants drivers to ship its items on large vehicles — which requires a industrial license. Such a license requires that candidates have demonstrable expertise wanted to function the vehicles on highways and metropolis streets.
“These standards and regulations exist for one very simple reason: to protect and prevent death and injuries from the operation of commercial motor vehicles,” Former U.S. Legal professional Joshua Levy mentioned on the time the conspirators had been charged.
Mathison, prosecutors be aware, has a severe felony historical past together with arrests and convictions referring to impersonating law enforcement officials, together with convictions in 2008 for theft, assault and battery, and impersonating a police officer, for which he was sentenced to eight years in jail.
Protection legal professional Scott Lauer wrote that “Mr. Mathison readily admits that he was reckless and irresponsible as a young man. Since that time, however, he has tried to learn from his mistakes and rehabilitate himself.”
Lauer concedes that his consumer is culpable, however notes that Mathison’s “participation in the scheme benefitted the water company, not him personally … Mr. Mathison got nothing out of this arrangement financially.”
As a substitute, he did it for work, Lauer writes, as he’s the first breadwinner for his dad and mom, who are suffering from medical issues, in addition to an grownup brother on the autism spectrum.
Courtesy/U.S. District Court docket
Pictures of deliveries of products Eric Mathison delivered to the trailer of fired MSP Sgt. Gary Cederquist on the MSP CDL unit. (Courtesy/U.S. District Court docket)
