Convicted Mass State Police Sgt. Gary Cederquist’s sentencing delayed, as his attorney defends murder suspect

Disgraced ex-Mass State Police Sgt. Gary Cederquist who was convicted in the driver’s license bribery scheme has gotten his federal sentencing delayed again, as his attorney is busy defending a murder suspect. Cederquist back on May 2 was found guilty of 48 counts in connection with the Commercial Driver’s License bribery scandal. He faced dozens of charges for falsifying records and giving passing scores to CDL applicants, including people who failed or did not take the CDL skills test, in exchange for bribes. Cederquist’s initial sentencing was scheduled for July 24, but now the date has been pushed until Oct. 14 — as his lawyer defends a first-degree murder suspect who allegedly beat his father to death with a dumbbell. That defendant is Brockton man Stephen Walcott Jr., who’s on trial in Plymouth County. Back in 2021, he allegedly killed his 70-year-old father in his dad’s East Bridgewater home. “… A verbal altercation ensued, and Walcott II beat his father about the head and face with his fists,” the Plymouth DA’s office wrote back in 2021. “He additionally took a dumbbell and struck Walcott Sr. in the back of the head, and also attempted to suffocate him.” Meanwhile as the murder trial starts, his attorney Kevin Reddington got the federal judge in the Cederquist case to delay the ex-statie’s sentencing until mid-October. Related Articles Mass State Police briefs: Street racing crackdown, truck team blitz Massachusetts State Police make big fentanyl and cocaine bust, arrest 7 people to ‘disrupt a narcotics operation’ Massachusetts driving school manager convicted in Mass State Police bribery scandal is sentenced to prison Boston man convicted of giving bribes to Mass State Police sergeant sentenced to prison Mass State Police trooper seriously injured in hit-and-run crash urges drivers to ‘move over’ Cederquist was in charge of MSP’s CDL Unit, which is responsible for administering CDL skills tests. The CDL skills test is a demanding, in-person test that consists of three segments: Vehicle Inspection; Basic Control Skills; and the Road Test. Between February 2019 and January 2023, Cederquist arranged for him and his co-conspirators to give passing scores to at least three dozen applicants regardless of whether or not they had actually passed or, in some cases, had even taken the CDL skills test — including in some instances in exchange for bribes. Cederquist and his co-conspirators used the code word “golden handshake” or “golden” to identify applicants who received special treatment, and were to be given passing scores on their skills tests regardless of performance. In text message conversations, Cederquist and his co-conspirators described a number of “golden” applicants as performing poorly on their skills tests. However, all of the applicants received passing scores. Cederquist also conspired with his friend who worked for a water company that employed drivers who needed CDLs, to give passing scores to certain applicants affiliated with the water company. In exchange for the passing scores, Cederquist accepted bribes of free inventory from the water company, such as cases of bottled Fiji, VOSS and Essentia water, cases of bottled Arizona Iced Tea, coffee and tea products, and boxes of Twizzlers and Swedish Fish. Cederquist accepted a variety of bribes including inventory from the water company valued in the thousands of dollars; a $750 granite post and mailbox; a new driveway valued at over $10,000; and a snowblower valued at nearly $2,000. Cederquist described one such applicant as “horrible,” and “brain dead,” but gave him a passing score anyway in exchange for the snowblower.