Former Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon pleaded guilty to 17 criminal charges tied to fraud, perjury and civil-service violations committed while he ran the department. A judge sentenced him to 2.5 years in a house of correction, with 30 days to serve and the balance suspended for three years. He also received three years of probation on the felony counts.
The plea, entered this week, closes out a case that began years ago and has now cost Solomon his badge, his pension and more. According to CBS News Boston, WBZ-TV reporter Paul Burton covered the plea, which included charges of fraud and perjury against the former chief. Solomon pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges along with six misdemeanor civil-service violations, according to WCVB.
The charges stemmed from a 2023 indictment that accused Solomon of seven counts of unwarranted privilege, two counts of perjury by written statement, uttering a false writing, and procurement fraud, the station reported. Prosecutors said Solomon used his position as chief to appoint unqualified police officers, including Sean Fountain, and then worked to cover up their lack of qualifications.
Sentencing Strips Solomon of Pension and Licenses
Beyond the jail time and probation, Solomon will lose his city pension, his license to carry a firearm and his private investigator's license, per the Boston Herald. If he violates the terms of his probation, the same report notes, he could face up to 20 years in state prison on the felony counts.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office, which secured the plea, said Solomon repeatedly misused his position of authority as police chief in connection with the 17 charges, according to a statement posted on Mass.gov.
City Seeks to Recover $1 Million in Pension Payments
Methuen officials said they intend to pursue recovery of roughly $1 million in pension payments Solomon had already collected, according to NBC10 Boston. The city has said it will pursue every available legal avenue to recover more than $1 million in pension benefits already paid to Solomon, per the earlier WCVB report.
Accounts differ on exactly when Solomon left the department and over what period those pension payments accumulated. WCVB has reported that Solomon retired in 2021 and was indicted by a grand jury two years later, while WHAV has reported that the roughly $1 million in pension payments were made to Solomon since his retirement in 2020. Hoodline could not independently confirm which timeline is accurate.
Separate from any recovery effort, Solomon's pension forfeiture is expected to reduce Methuen's unfunded pension liability by approximately $3.7 million over the next 20 years, the WCVB report noted. The case moved from a 2023 indictment to this week's guilty plea and sentencing, closing a chapter that has hung over the department and City Hall for years.
