Massachusetts driving school manager convicted in Mass State Police bribery scandal is sentenced to prison

A driving school manager who was convicted in the Mass State Police bribery scandal has been sentenced to federal prison.

Scott Camara, 44, will face one month behind bars for his role in the scheme to falsify records by giving passing scores to four Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) applicants who did not take the CDL skills test as required by federal law.

Camara, who’s from Rehoboth, also pleaded guilty to perjury for lying to a federal grand jury.

His month in prison will be followed by one year of supervised release.

The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office was seeking a sentence of 10 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $5,500.

Last year, Camara was charged in a 74-count indictment along with five others in the conspiracy and related schemes. The defendants included Gary Cederquist, a friend of Camara, who was the sergeant in charge of the Mass State Police’s CDL unit.

“He (Camara) knew the requirements of a CDL skills test, and knew why the test was difficult – because putting unqualified drivers of heavy trucks and buses on the road risks public safety,” the feds wrote in their sentencing memo.

According to the charging documents, Camara conspired with Cederquist to give passing scores to four MSP troopers who had applied for Class A CDLs, but who did not actually take the required CDL skills test.

“More than most CDL holders, Mr. Camara knew the risks involved in letting unqualified applicants get their CDLs,” the feds wrote. “He put his friendship with Cederquist ahead of the dangers he knew about when he conspired to falsify records enabling four unqualified troopers to receive their Class A CDLs.”

The test takers were given preferential treatment by Cederquist, who falsely reported that each trooper took and passed a Class A skills test. However in reality, Camara drove around the testing site with each of the four troopers in a truck cab — which did not qualify as a Class A vehicle because it did not have an attached trailer.

Neither Cederquist or any other member of the CDL unit administered a skills test to the troopers.

Camara filled out portions of each trooper’s Road Test Application with false information, including the make, model and registration for an absent trailer, as well as the “Sponsor Information” section — in which Camara falsely claimed to be the sponsor for each of the troopers.

Camara also pleaded guilty to perjury for false statements made to a federal grand jury. Testifying under oath before the grand jury, Camara falsely claimed that he had neither filled out the vehicle and sponsor information sections of three of the troopers’ CDL Road Test Applications, nor signed the forms.

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

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Test requirements for CDLs are established by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The CDL skills test is a demanding, in-person test that consists of three segments: Vehicle Inspection, in which an applicant is tested on their knowledge of the vehicle; Basic Control Skills, in which an applicant is tested on their ability to perform certain maneuvers; and the Road Test, in which an applicant is tested on their ability to drive a commercial vehicle on an open roadway.

 

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