Maryland State Trooper pleads guilty to fabricating DUI arrests, writing tickets to phantom people
A Maryland State Trooper pleaded guilty to perjury and misconduct charges for fabricating drunk-driving arrests and issuing tickets to people who did not exist.
The Attorney General’s Office, which charged the case, said Cpl. John Sollon, 36, was assigned to the unit that specializes in DUI cases. Between Jan. 20, 2018 and December 29, 2019, prosecutors said Sollon charged fictitious people in six arrests that had not occurred.
“In each case, no actual traffic stop was conducted, no individual was arrested, and the individual purportedly stopped did not exist,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a news release. Charges were forwarded to the District Court for adjudication, and in four of the cases arrest warrants were issued for the fictitious people not appearing in court.
State police said Sollon was reported by fellow troopers.
Sollon was charged late last month and pleaded guilty Wednesday, receiving a suspended sentence of six years, to be followed by three years of probation. He also was fined $6,000 and has to perform 300 hours of community service.
No motive was given, but Maryland State Police give out awards for “top producing” troopers who make the most DUI arrests. He was a member of S.P.I.D.R.E., which stands for State Police Impaired Driving Effort and is described as an elite unit, since its inception in 2013.
Sollon’s defense attorney declined to comment.
In three of the four cases in which court officials believed those arrested had failed to appear for court, other police officers traveled to the addresses Sollon listed for the fictitious defendants in futile efforts to serve warrants, prosecutors said.
“The citizens of Maryland have an expectation that law enforcement officers are conducting their jobs honestly and with the utmost integrity,” said Attorney General Frosh. “When officers do not tell the truth, it is a betrayal of the public trust.”
Sollon remains employed but suspended without pay. “Now a criminal conviction has occurred, the Maryland State Police administrative disciplinary process regarding the corporal will ensue,” said state police spokesman Greg Shipley.
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