Overview

• A federal jury in May convicted Gary Cederquist on 48 counts, including conspiracy, extortion, honest services mail fraud, falsifying records and making false statements, and acquitted him on nine others.
• The sentence includes two years of supervised release, a $30,000 fine, $18,300 in restitution and a $4,800 special assessment, and he remains free until reporting to prison on Nov. 25.
• Prosecutors said the CDL unit issued more than three dozen licenses from 2019 to 2023 to applicants who failed or never took required tests, flagged in texts with the code words “golden handshake” or “golden.”
• Evidence described bribes such as a new driveway, a snowblower, a granite mailbox post and company inventory like premium bottled water and candy in exchange for passing scores.
• Co-conspirators resolved their cases through pleas or agreements, including short prison terms for former troopers Calvin Butner and Perry Mendes, a one-year term for Eric Mathison, a one-month term for Scott Camara and a deferred prosecution for Joel Rogers.