Massachusetts driving school owner sentenced to time served for bribing road test examiner to issue driver’s licenses to those not deserving

BOSTON – A Brockton man has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for bribing a road test examiner to issue driver’s licenses to individuals who did not pass or, in some cases, even take road tests at the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Brockton.

According to a release from the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 72-year-old Carlos Cardoso was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to time served (one day in prison) to be followed by two years of supervised release with the first six months to be spent in home incarceration. He was also ordered to pay a $5,500 fine. In June 2025, Cardoso pleaded guilty to one count of honest services mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud. In May 2024, Cardoso was indicted by a federal grand jury.

Cardoso, the former owner of a driving school, paid cash bribes totaling more than $20,000 to a road test examiner at the Brockton RMV service center to misrepresent that certain driver’s license applicants had passed their road test when, in fact, they had not. Some of the applicants did not even show up to take the test. As a result of the fraud, the RMV mailed driver’s licenses to unqualified applicants.

United States Attorney Leah Foley; Michael Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Brian Gallagher, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Wichers of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case.