A Maryland state trooper assigned to a law enforcement program focused on reducing alcohol-related crashes pleaded guilty to charges of making up six DUI arrests.
Cpl. John Sollon, 36, pleaded guilty to charges of perjury and misconduct in office in Baltimore County on Thursday, according to Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh.
Sollon was sentenced to six years in prison, all suspended, three years of supervised probation, and a fine of $6,000, the attorney general’s office said in a news release.
The corporal also must perform 300 hours of community service, as a condition of his probation.
“The citizens of Maryland have an expectation that law enforcement officers are conducting their jobs honestly and with the utmost integrity,” said Frosh.
“When officers do not tell the truth, it is a betrayal of the public trust.”
Sollon fabricated at least six cases with dreamed-up names and details over the past two years, according to prosecutors.
In each case, no actual traffic stop was conducted, nobody was arrested and the person purportedly stopped did not exist.
However, Sollon issued traffic citations under penalty of perjury in the name of each fictitious driver, which were submitted for adjudication to the District Court of Maryland.
“Sollon completed and executed forms for each defendant falsely certifying under penalty of
perjury that the fictitious defendant had been stopped for DUI, had been advised of their
rights, and had refused a test of breath,” according to a statement from the attorney general’s office.
Sollon, a Maryland state trooper since 2010, has been a member of the S.P.I.D.R.E. Team specialized DUI unit since 2014, according to the attorney general’s office.
He was one of dozens of troopers recognized for their efforts to combat impaired driving in Maryland during an October 2019 ceremony.
