Joseph Solomon, once among the highest paid police chiefs in the country, reported to jail Friday after pleading guilty to eleven felonies and six misdemeanor civil service violations. He will serve 30 days, followed by three years of probation, and he loses his private investigator license and his license to carry.
The 30 days is what people will argue about. Methuen Mayor D.J. Beauregard called it “an outrage.” But the sentence is not the largest consequence of Friday’s plea, and it is not close. Solomon will forfeit a public pension from which he has already collected roughly $1 million since retiring in 2021, and the city says the forfeiture will cut its unfunded pension liability by about $3.7 million over the next twenty years.
This piece explains what he pleaded to, how a 30-day sentence coexists with a two-and-a-half-year sentence in the same case, and why pension forfeiture in Massachusetts is automatic rather than discretionary.
What he did
Solomon was indicted by a grand jury in 2023 on seven counts of unwarranted privilege, two counts of perjury by written statement, uttering a false writing, and procurement fraud. The core allegation was that he used the powers of his office to promote six unqualified officers into full-time, higher paying roles, and then covered up their lack of qualifications.
Essex District Attorney Paul Tucker said his office became aware in January 2023 of conduct involving Solomon’s hiring of Sean Fountain as a reserve intermittent officer in violation of civil service law, and worked with the Attorney General’s office to prosecute both men.
Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said Solomon “broke that trust by misusing his authority to elevate unqualified officers, putting residents’ wellbeing at risk.” Inspector General Jeffrey S. Shapiro said public servants “who enrich themselves at the expense of the people they swear an oath to serve must be held to account, no matter how long it takes.”
Acting Methuen Chief James Moore said the plea “closes a very dark chapter in the history of the Methuen Police Department.”
Why the sentence looks like two sentences
Because it is, and the structure is common enough that it is worth explaining.
On the six misdemeanor civil service violations, the judge imposed two and a half years in a house of correction outside Essex County, with 30 days to serve and the balance suspended. That is a committed sentence with most of it hanging over him.
On the eleven felonies, he received three years of probation. Beauregard said that if Solomon violates probation he could face up to twenty years in state prison, which reflects the aggregate maximum exposure on the underlying felony counts rather than a suspended term of that length.
So the practical picture is 30 days now, and a long period in which any violation is expensive. Whether that is adequate is a judgment about sentencing rather than a legal question, and the mayor and the prosecutors plainly disagree about it.
The pension, which is the real penalty
Massachusetts strips the retirement allowance of a public employee convicted of a job-related crime, and it does so by operation of law.
G.L. c. 32, § 15(4) provides that “in no event shall any member after final conviction of a criminal offense involving violation of the laws applicable to his office or position, be entitled to receive a retirement allowance.” The forfeited member gets back only accumulated deductions, and the statute directs that the interest rate for calculating them “shall be zero.”
The operative phrase is “laws applicable to his office or position.” Massachusetts courts require a direct link between the criminal conduct and the duties of the job rather than treating any conviction as disqualifying. A police chief convicted of misusing the appointment power of the chief’s office, and of perjury in documents submitted in that capacity, sits at the center of what the provision covers.
Two further provisions matter here. Section 15(5) requires the Attorney General or a district attorney who learns of a qualifying conviction to notify the retirement commission immediately. And section 15(6) provides that where a conviction results in forfeiture, the member “shall forfeit, and the board shall require the member to repay, all benefits received.” That last clause is the basis for Beauregard’s statement that the city “will pursue every available legal avenue to recover more than $1 million in pension benefits already paid to Solomon.”
Recovering money already paid is harder in practice than the statute makes it sound, because it requires collecting from an individual rather than simply stopping payments. But the obligation to stop paying is immediate, and the $3.7 million liability reduction the city projects reflects the value of payments it will now never make.
We explained the same provision earlier this week in the context of an Essex County corrections officer charged with bringing contraband into a jail, where a conviction would carry the same automatic consequence. That article is here.
What else Solomon loses
His private investigator license and his license to carry firearms, both stated as part of the disposition. A felony conviction independently disqualifies a person from holding a Massachusetts firearms license.
His police certification is a separate matter. Solomon retired in 2021, before much of the POST Commission’s machinery was operating, and a retired chief is not employed as an officer. The commission maintains authority over certification and a felony conviction is grounds for decertification, but the practical effect on someone who has already left the profession is limited.
What is still open
Beauregard called on United States Attorney Leah Foley to reopen a federal investigation into Solomon that was closed in 2024. Nothing obligates her to, a closed federal investigation can be reopened at the government’s discretion, and the double jeopardy clause does not bar a federal prosecution after a state conviction under the dual sovereignty doctrine. Whether any federal charge remains viable depends on the statute of limitations and on what the earlier investigation found, neither of which is public.
The city’s effort to recover the $1 million already paid will proceed through the retirement board rather than the criminal court.
Common questions
What did the former Methuen police chief plead guilty to?
Eleven felonies, including unwarranted privilege, perjury by written statement, uttering a false writing and procurement fraud, and six misdemeanor civil service violations, arising from promoting six unqualified officers and concealing their lack of qualifications.
How long will he serve?
Thirty days in a house of correction outside Essex County, out of a two-and-a-half-year sentence on the misdemeanors, plus three years of probation on the felonies.
Does he lose his pension?
Yes, by operation of G.L. c. 32, § 15(4), which forfeits the retirement allowance of a member finally convicted of an offense involving the laws applicable to the office. He receives back only accumulated deductions at zero interest.
Can the city recover benefits already paid?
Section 15(6) requires a member whose conviction causes forfeiture to repay benefits received, and the board to require repayment. Collection in practice is harder than the statute suggests.
Could he still face federal charges?
A state conviction does not bar a federal prosecution under the dual sovereignty doctrine. The mayor has asked the U.S. Attorney to reopen an investigation closed in 2024; no federal charge has been announced.
Plea terms, sentence and quotations from Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Essex District Attorney Paul Tucker, Inspector General Jeffrey S. Shapiro, Mayor D.J. Beauregard and Acting Chief James Moore as reported by Boston 25 News and WCVB, September 18, 2026. Pension figures and the projected $3.7 million liability reduction are the city’s, as stated by Mayor Beauregard. G.L. c. 32, § 15(4), (5) and (6) read at malegislature.gov and quoted from the statutory text. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.