Indictments were announced yesterday, against former Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon and former Methuen Police Officer Sean Fountain, marking a significant development in the case exposing corruption and manipulation within our public institutions. According to the press release from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, the charges emerge from an investigation into Solomon's bypassing of civil service laws to appoint part-time intermittent officers to full-time positions and Fountain's false claims of police academy graduation.
Solomon, now facing numerous charges, including perjury, uttering a forged document, and procurement fraud, had a history of exploiting his role as police chief for personal gain. In the particular case of hiring part-time intermittent officers, Solomon unlawfully appointed six of them to full-time roles in the Methuen Police Department, one of them being Fountain.
Fountain's involvement in this case lies within his false statements regarding his qualifications for serving as a police officer. Allegedly, Fountain falsely claimed in his application that he had graduated from the Northeast Regional Police Institute (NERPI) in 1996. When questioned about his graduation, Fountain produced a forged certificate, further confirming his ongoing deception.
Solomon, in his abuse of power, seemed to turn a blind eye to this forgery, which led to both individuals working together to perpetuate their lies. As stated in the press release from the Office of the Attorney General's Office, Solomon perjured himself on two occasions as he falsely claimed that Fountain was a civil service officer in annual civil service reports.
