Name: Md. trooper wrote DWI tickets to fictitious drivers, pleads guilty to perjury
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Md. trooper wrote DWI tickets to fictitious drivers, pleads guilty to perjury

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This article was published more than&nbsp;2 years agoGift ShareAs part of Maryland State Trooper John Sollon’s assignment to a specialized drunken-driving enforcement team, he had to go to court to testify against the drivers he had arrested. Six times in the past two years, the drivers Sollon arrested did not show up for their trials. Warrants were issued, and several times officers went to serve the reluctant defendants.Each time the officers found something unusual: The defendants didn’t exist.On at least six occasions, authorities said, Sollon fabricated entire cases for fictitious defendants, including case reports and the allegation each had refused to take a breath test. On Wednesday, Sollon pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of perjury and misconduct in office in Baltimore County Circuit Court. He was fined $6,000, placed on three years of supervised probation and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service.AdvertisementSollon, 36, remains a corporal in the Maryland State Police with pay. Although he was suspended with pay in January, an administrative investigation was not begun until after the conclusion of his criminal case, department spokesman Greg Shipley said. Sollon has been a state trooper since 2010.Sollon has been a member since 2014 of the team, which for its DUI enforcement work. But Shipley said there are no numerical requirements for how many drunken-driving cases the team members must file each month or year.“We make no stipulations that could be implied as a quota,” Shipley said. “Their primary focus is to impact impaired driving. That’s what they’re expected to do. There is no quota.”Shipley declined to speculate on a motive for Sollon filing at least six false cases. Sollon did not return a phone message seeking comment Wednesday, and his lawyer declined to comment.AdvertisementIt wasn’t necessarily the attempts to arrest nonexistent defendants that led to Sollon’s downfall, Shipley said. He said the investigation “was initiated as a result of concerns expressed by other troopers,” although he declined to be more specific.The state police handled the criminal investigation and then turned it over to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. Investigators found on six occasions between January 2018 and December 2019, Sollon filed false traffic citations, along with assorted other false paperwork. Prosecutors said he filed a report that a driver had been stopped for suspicion of drunken driving, that the driver had been advised of their Miranda rights, and that the driver had refused a breath test, thus negating the need for a falsified breathalyzer report. Drivers may be arrested for impaired or intoxicated driving based purely on an officer’s observations and other evidence, without the science of a blood-alcohol test, particularly when the driver refuses such a test.“None of the fictitious defendants appeared for their scheduled court dates because they did not exist,” the office of Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) wrote in a statement announcing the case. Arrest warrants were issued in four of the six cases, the attorney general said.Advertisement“In three of those four cases,” the statement said, “other police officers traveled to the addresses Sollon listed for the fictitious defendants in futile efforts to serve warrants.” Shipley did not know if the state police or other police departments were involved in the searches for the nonexistent defendants.Court records show Sollon was charged in Baltimore County on July 23 in an information, meaning he did not need to be arrested or booked into custody. He appeared Wednesday morning before Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Vicki Ballou-Watts both to enter a plea and be sentenced.Although perjury is a misdemeanor, under Maryland law it has a maximum sentence of 10 years. Misconduct in office is , not defined in Maryland statutes, meaning the punishment range is entirely up to the judge.AdvertisementBallou-Watts sentenced Sollon to six years in prison on both counts, and then suspended all of the time. She also imposed the fine, probation and community service.“The citizens of Maryland have an expectation that law enforcement officers are conducting their jobs honestly and with the utmost integrity,” Frosh said in a statement. “When officers do not tell the truth, it is a betrayal of the public trust.”Gift ArticleTOP STORIESThe DMV GuideWhether you’re a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, we’ve got you covered.Try a different topic or to save your preferences

This article was published more than&nbsp;2 years agoGift ShareAs part of Maryland State Trooper John Sollon’s assignment to a specialized drunken-driving enforcement team, he had to go to court to testify against the drivers he had arrested. Six times in the past two years, the drivers Sollon arrested did not show up for their trials. Warrants were issued, and several times officers went to serve the reluctant defendants.Each time the officers found something unusual: The defendants didn’t exist.On at least six occasions, authorities said, Sollon fabricated entire cases for fictitious...

Md. trooper wrote DWI tickets to fictitious drivers, pleads guilty to perjury

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