A former statie accused of giving passing scores to Commercial Driver’s License applicants even if they failed the CDL test has agreed to plead guilty.

Halifax man Calvin Butner, 64, a former Massachusetts State Police trooper, was charged last year in a 74-count indictment along with five others in the alleged conspiracy and related schemes.

Butner has now agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to falsify records, three counts of falsifying records and aiding and abetting, and five counts of making false statements.

A CDL is required to drive a commercial vehicle, such as a tractor trailer, box truck, or school bus. Test requirements for CDLs are established by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and states administer CDL tests and issue the licenses.

A CDL applicant must prove that they have detailed knowledge of commercial vehicles, and they also have to perform certain maneuvers and safely drive on public roadways, including a highway.

According to the federal charging document, Butner and three other members of the Mass State Police CDL Unit conspired to give preferential treatment to at least 17 CDL applicants by agreeing to give passing scores on their CDL tests regardless of whether they actually passed.

Butner and the co-defendants allegedly used the code word “golden” to identify these applicants. Butner allegedly texted the following comments about applicants to a co-conspirator:

“This guys a mess. . . . Lol. He owes u a prime rib 6inch.”
“Golden mess. ”
“He’s a mess Class A truck 2psi loss with truck running truck cut our again while timing ”
“Total mess this guy[.] i think some time[s] we should just do what we can but not golden. I’ll tell you about it later.”

In addition to the false records conspiracy, Butner has agreed to plead guilty to three counts of falsifying records, aiding and abetting, by giving passing scores to three applicants who failed the CDL test, and five counts of making false statements by giving passing scores to five applicants who did not take the test at all.

A civilian co-defendant, Eric Mathison, last month pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion.

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All CDL recipients identified as not qualified during the course of this investigation have been reported to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled Butner’s plea hearing for April 7.