Ex-Methuen police chief was fat crooked cop’s fat crooked cop

They finally wiped that bleep-eating grin off ex-Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon’s fat face.

It took forever but Friday the 65-year-old Methuen crime bosspleaded guilty in state court to multiple felonies. Tomorrow night at City Hall he will be stripped of his $183,858-a-year pension (at least temporarily).

Solomon will also be headed to jail, for 30 days. He deserves 30 years, but this is corrupt Massachusetts, so it’s better than nothing. He was indicted three years ago, but all this time continued to pocket that $183,858 pension.

During his brazen crime spree, Solomon turned Methuen into King Solomon’s Mines. And there was plenty of gold in them thar hills.

And it all went to Solomon, who ran the police department “like the don of an organized-crime family,” as one of the scathing reports put it.

"And it all went to Solomon, who ran the police department “like the don of an organized-crime family,” as one of the scathing reports put it."

He had two personal police cars. One was used only for smoking cigars – the cigar car, as Methuen Mayor D.J. Beauregard called it Friday. If you’re a Mafia don, you have to smoke cigars.

In 2017 Solomon wrote a letter to the then-mayor saying that his salary would soon be up to $375,000 a year. To put that in perspective, the police commissioner of New York City in 2026makes $286,627.

New York City has 8.5 million residents. Methuen has 53,000.

The mayor at the time was Jim Jajuga. He’d been one of Billy Bulger’s loyal stooges in the state Senate, before which he was a Massachusetts state cop. Totally on the level.

When Jajuga was elected, Solomon handed him the keys to a brand new Chevy Tahoe SUV with tinted windows. The vehicle was a “gift” from the police department.

After a nationwide search, Mayor Jajuga’s son became a captain in the Methuen PD. Under the terms of the contract City Hall signed off on, captains working for Solomon could make up to $489,000 a year.

Plus overtime and details, of course.

The city council was fine with this looting, perhaps because Solomon was putting so many of the local hacks and/or their offspring on the city payroll. One of them allegedly obtained a forged police academy training certificate. That hack pleaded guilty and got no jail time – professional courtesy.

Solomon got a $20,129 kiss for his degree from a very prestigious cop diploma mill. He claimed to be a “counter-terrorism expert.” He was terrorizing the taxpayers of Methuen.

Solomon was fired once back in 2008 for misusing federal grant money. Knowing Massachusetts, he appealed and got his job back – with a $195,000 kiss for his emotional distress.

“And that’s when he began his Reign of Terror, Part 2,” Beauregard said on my radio show Friday night.

He took care of the local pols with contributions too. Diana DiZoglio, now the “reform” auditor, pocketed at least $1550 in Solomon cash. Did I mention that one of the city councilors in Methuen was also named DiZoglio?

More recently, he’s been duking cash to local Rep. Estela Reyes, from the city of Lawrence, where two of her fellow Dominican-born Democrat elected officials have just been indicted by the feds for COVID welfare fraud.

You may soon be reading more about Rep. Reyes. Solomon always knew how to pick ‘em.

The charges Solomon pled guilty to Friday seem almost like bureaucratic technicalities – civil-service law violations, obtaining unwarranted privileges, uttering a forged document. Even the perjury was in a written document.

But this guy was bad, utterly shameless. He deserves not only a plaque, but a wing in the Massachusetts Corrupt Cops Hall of Shame.

But now Mayor Beauregard says they’re going to take away Solomon’s $183,858-a-year pension as well as try to “claw back” his ill-gotten gains over the years.

That will be easier said than done. Inevitably, Solomon will appeal the loss of his kiss. That’s standard m.o. for all crooked cops. He will demand to continue getting his check becauseotherwise he will suffer “irreparable harm.”

When Solomon loses his appeal(s), after years of continuances and delays while he’s still collecting, his wife will then file her own separate appeal.

While the $15,000 a month continues to roll in, she will keep appealing, to one court or regulatory body after another, claiming to be an innocent party who because of her wayward spouse’s crimes will likewise suffer irreparable harm.

“I’ll tell you who suffered irreparable harm here,” Beauregard said. “The taxpayers of the city of Methuen.”

Solomon of course wanted no jail time, just like his city councilor pal- turned-fake-cop who pleaded out. ButBeauregard, as the representatives of the “victims,” i.e., the taxpayers, put his foot down.

In a totally unexpected turn of events, the mayor was supported by Attorney General Andrea Campbell.

“She was super-helpful, a rock star putting her foot down,” he said. “She’s been one of the biggest advocates for jail time behind the scenes.”

It’s depressing that Massachusetts is so corrupt now that 30 days for a crime kingpin like Solomon is regarded as a major victory. There was a federal investigation as well, but it ran out of steam in late 2024, after the election, just as Fauci and the Biden family were getting their pardons.

More professional courtesy.

“We need the feds to get back involved,” Beauregard said. “There’s still so much here. One of the unindicted co-conspirators in this case is still on the state payroll.”

Forget it, Mayor. It’s Massachusetts.