Yesterday the Methuen police chief and one of his part-time officers were indicted for a slew of criminal charges which include perjury, fraud, and civil service law violations.
According to a press release published by the Attorney Generalās Office,
[Police Chief Joseph Solomon] repeatedly misused his position of authority as police chief to repeatedly undermine the law for his own benefit, including by hiring six part-time intermittent officers to the Methuen Police Department and then appointing them to full-time roles.
His alleged actions violate numerous parts of the stateās civil service laws.
Moreover, Solomon supposedly aided one of his part-time officers, Sean Fountain, who lied about graduating from the full-time police academy at Northeast Regional Police Institute (NERPI).
Fountain even made and used a fake graduation certificate from NERPI. All of Fountainās fraudulent behavior was known to Solomon, according to the AG press release.
Chief Solomonās indictment contains
- Perjury by Written Affidavit (2 counts),
- Obtaining Unwarranted Privileges in Violation of the Civil Service Laws (7āÆcounts),
- Civil Service Law Violations (6 counts),
- Uttering a Forged Document (1 count) and Procurement Fraud (1 count).
Officer Fountainās indictment includes
- Forgery (1 count),
- Uttering a Forged Document (1count),
- Perjury (1 count),
- Procurement Fraud (1 count),
- Conflict of Interest Law Violation (1 count).
Both defendants will be arraigned in Essex County Superior Court in the near future.