The disciplinary measure came after a woman, who at one point had a relationship with one of the cadets, told officials that she had taken the exam for him, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Col. Mark W. McDonough said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. That prompted the department’s Office of Professional Standards to launch a three-month investigation on Oct. 15.

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McDonough said that when officials disciplined the former cadet about giving the woman his username and password so she could take the test for him, he implicated the rest of his class.

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“He then came forward and said, ‘I’m not the only one who cheated’ and made the allegation that everyone had cheated,” McDonough told reporters of the 33-person class that graduated in August.

One trooper had already been fired, another had resigned, and a third was on military leave before the Wednesday dismissal, he said.

McDonough said the then-cadets were accused of cheating on the speed-detection exam and that one cadet had helped others with answers to the online exam. He also said a training instructor had printed a makeup assessment and allowed two cadets who had initially failed to turn in exams to do so the next day.

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Investigators found the then-cadets had used notes to cheat, posted test questions and answers on a GroupMe chat, and used two Snapchat groups to facilitate answer sharing, McDonough said.

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“They were using the chat groups to communicate to each other not only in the advent of passing information for cheating on the exams, but also to get their stories straight for when the investigation started,” he said.

The troopers violated a department code of conduct policy that includes an expectation for academic integrity, McDonough said.

“It’s a punch in the gut,” McDonough told reporters. “This goes to our very core values. It’s something that is difficult to swallow.”

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McDonough speculated that panic might have consumed the class when two people took the test and failed. One cadet knew he couldn’t continue training if he didn’t pass, telling investigators, “I had to do what I had to do.”

Courts have been notified of the actions taken against the troopers, McDonough said, and the fate of 133 speeding tickets issued by them remains unclear. The troopers were forbidden to use radar technology once investigators realized the severity of the scandal, McDonough said.

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The mass dismissal leaves the state with a gap in troopers, decreasing the total number from 844 to 814, McDonough said. The next academy class will graduate in May.

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The online option of the course will no longer be available, and a complete audit of the training department has been requested, McDonough said. More disciplinary action could follow.

“I think the trust with us is done,” he said.