Three month prison sentence issued for former trooper in falsified CDL test score conspiracy

A former Massachusetts State Police (MSP) trooper was sentenced to prison for participating in a scheme to give preferential passing scores to Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) applicants even if they failed the CDL test or took less than the full test.

On August 12, 2025, former MSP trooper Calvin Butner, 64, was sentenced to three months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release with the first three months in home confinement. 

The government sought a sentence of 15 months in prison.

In April 2025, Butner pleaded 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.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Butner and three other MSP troopers took part in a conspiracy to falsify CDL test scores from May 2019 through January 2023, providing preferential treatment to at least 17 CDL applicants by agreeing to give passing scores on their CDL tests regardless of whether or not they actually passed.

Officials say that Butner handed out passing scores to three applicants who failed the CDL test, and to five applicants who did not take the test at all.

Butner and the other conspirators used “golden” as a code word to indicate which CDL applicants should receive the passing scores.

See below for text messages from Butner sent 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.”

The applicants who received a CDL as part of this scheme were reported to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.

On August 7, 2025, former MSP trooper Perry Mendes, 64, was sentenced to one month in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release with the first two months on home confinement. The government recommended a sentence of one year in prison and a fine of $5,500 for Mendes

Mendes pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of conspiracy to falsify records, three counts of falsifying records and two counts of making false statements in connection with the CDL test score conspiracy.

Also charged was beverage company employee Eric Mathison, 48, who was accused of conspiring with the former troopers to obtain CDLs on behalf of his employees so that they could drive delivery vehicles. In exchange, officials said that Mathison provided the troopers with “cases of bottled Fiji, VOSS and Essentia water, cases of bottled Arizona Iced Tea and coffee and tea products, all of which Mathison delivered to an office trailer at the CDL test site in Stoughton.”

Mathison pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion.