BOSTON, Oct. 29, 2014—Four Massport employees who had been suspended without pay since 2013 pleaded guilty today to felony charges that they accepted cash and other items of substantial value from cab drivers in exchange for letting them cut ahead of other taxis at Logan Airport, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

KENNETH CLEMENT (D.O.B. 1/24/46) of New Hampshire and VADIM MKRTYCHEV (D.O.B. 2/20/75) of West Roxbury pleaded guilty to two counts of accepting an illegal gift, while MICHAEL GARVEY (D.O.B. 5/18/61) of Melrose and DONALD POTTS (D.O.B. 7/24/65) of Roxbury pleaded guilty of four counts of accepting an illegal gift. They and a fifth man were indicted last May after an extensive investigation by State Police assigned to the Logan barracks, assisted by Massport.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke ordered each of the four to pay a $10,000 fine and placed them on two years of probation. Locke additionally ordered the men not to seek employment with Massport or any other governmental agency and not to collect their state pensions.

Had their cases proceeded to trial, Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Goldberger would have introduced evidence and testimony to prove that the defendants, all employed as Ground Transportation Unit agents at Logan and known colloquially as “cab starters,” allowed Boston cab drivers to skip the sometimes-lengthy wait at the airport’s Taxi Pool in exchange for cash. The scheme put cab drivers who did not participate at a disadvantage because those drivers spent more time waiting in line and less time driving passengers.

Clement, Mkrtychev, Garvey, and Potts were represented by attorneys Robert LeRoy, Vincent Murray Jr., John McGlone III, and Eric Tennen, respectively. The fifth defendant, JAMES MULREY (D.O.B. 10/27/67), is represented by attorney James Greenberg and is scheduled for trial in March.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.