A Wareham man was sentenced one month in prison followed by one year of supervised release with the first two months on home confinement for his role in falsifying Commercial Drivers License test results, giving passing scores to people who failed or did not take the test.

Former Massachusetts State Police trooper Perry Mendes, 64, pled guilty in July 2025 to one count of conspiracy to falsify records, three counts of falsifying records and two counts of making false statements.

Mendes was charged in a 74-count indictment along with five others in the alleged conspiracy and related schemes in January 2024.

Between January 2019 and April 2022, Mendes conspired with others to give automatic passing scores to at least 17 CDL applicants on their skills tests regardless of whether they actually passed, using the code word “golden handshake” or “golden,” for short, to identify applicants who would receive special treatment.

Mendes admitted to his role in the alleged conspiracy in a plea hearing saying he cut skills tests short for “golden” applicants, entered false information to give applicants passing grades and reported passing scores for applicants he knew had not taken the test.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, the skills test is a demanding, in-person test that consists of three segments: vehicle inspection, basic control skills and a road test. Only drivers who have passed the test may be issued a CDL with the primary goal of public safety.

Mendes is the first of five to be sentenced in the bribery scheme.