The Eastie man convicted in connection with the Mass State Police commercial driver’s license bribery scheme is receiving letters of support from ex-BPD officers ahead of his federal sentencing.

Eric Mathison, 48, earlier this year pleaded guilty to his role in an extortion conspiracy involving troopers who gave false passing scores to commercial driver’s license applicants who had failed or had taken only partial CDL skills test — in exchange for bribes.

Mathison also has a “serious criminal history,” according to the feds, citing his arrests and convictions for impersonating police officers.

Before his federal sentencing later this summer, Mathison is receiving support from retired Boston cops. That includes former BPD Sgt. Francis Matthews.

“His dedication to his family, his community, and his respect for authority are qualities that make him an outstanding individual,” Matthews wrote in a letter to the federal judge. “I humbly request that you consider Eric’s exemplary character and the positive impact he has on those around him when evaluating his situation.”

Retired BPD officer Jane Dean, who’s now the Boston Municipal Protective Officer at Boston City Hall, also wrote a letter of support to the judge.

“I have known him since he was born and watched him grow up. His younger years were hard on him and I know very well all the troubles he had,” Dean wrote. “Eric paid a very steep price for his mistakes being incarcerated almost half his life. Eric is a much different person today. He turned his life around completely becoming someone I admire greatly.”

Mathison, who worked for a water company that employed drivers who needed CDLs to drive their delivery vehicles, participated in the scheme designed for Sgt. Gary Cederquist to obtain thousands of dollars of merchandise from Mathison’s employer, Belmont Springs.

In exchange, Cederquist – then in charge of MSP’s CDL Unit – ensured that applicants for CDLs connected to Mathison and Belmont Springs would receive passing scores on the CDL skills test.

Over the course of the scheme, Mathison delivered truckloads of premium bottled water, boxes of coffee pods and tea, brand-new coffee and drink machines, and candy, like Twizzlers and Swedish Fish, to Cederquist — both at his work trailer at MSP’s CDL testing site in Stoughton and at his house.

In turn, Cederquist provided passing scores to Belmont Springs CDL applicants, including to applicants who never took an actual test – or who, in some cases, failed it.

Following Mathison’s guilty plea, the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office is calling for a federal prison sentence of two years, and three years of supervised release.

The feds are citing his “serious criminal history, including, among other things, a variety of arrests and convictions relating to the impersonation of police officers.”

“The government acknowledges that many of these offenses took place years ago, when he was a young adult, though the nature of the conduct and his repeat offenses – especially those that involve impersonating members of law enforcement by dressing up in police garb, wearing a police belt, and driving vehicles outfitted with police lights – may provide insight into his potential for recidivism,” U.S. Attorney prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

As a result, the feds argue that a 24-month sentence is needed to deter Mathison from reoffending upon his release from custody.

Meanwhile, his defense attorney is pushing for the court to sentence him to probation in lieu of incarceration. Mathison’s lawyer added that he would be OK with home detention, as long as he can keep working.

Mathison is the primary caretaker of his two ailing parents, his attorney said.

“When not working, he is usually home attending to the needs of his elderly parents,” his federal public defender wrote in his sentencing memo. “They rely upon him both financially and for day-to-day care.”

Mathison’s father has congestive heart failure, COPD, and diabetes that’s severe enough to have resulted in a partial amputation on his left foot. Mathison’s mother also suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and dementia.

His lawyer also argued that the bribery scheme was not entirely of his making.

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“Taken as a whole, this case exposed a whole culture of favor-doing and corruption within the state police’s CDL unit, with Sgt. Cederquist at the center of it,” the public defender wrote.

“Eric Mathison did not create this culture of favor-doing within the CDL unit and his culpability is not simply equivalent to Sgt. Cederquist or the other members of the CDL unit,” the attorney wrote. “… Mathison got nothing out of this arrangement financially.”