BALTIMORE, MD—Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh on Wednesday announced that Corporal John Sollon, 36, pleaded guilty to charges of perjury and misconduct in office before the Circuit Court of Baltimore County. Sollon was sentenced to six years in prison, all suspended, three years of supervised probation, and a fine of $6,000. As a condition of probation, Sollon will be required to perform 300 hours of community service.

Corporal John Sollon was appointed as a Maryland State Trooper in 2010 and has been a member of the S.P.I.D.R.E. Team specialized DUI unit since 2014. Between January 20, 2018 and December 29, 2019, Sollon fabricated six DUI arrests. In each case, no actual traffic stop was conducted, no individual was arrested, and the individual 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.

None of the fictitious defendants appeared for their scheduled court dates because they did not exist, and as a result, warrants were issued for the arrest of the fictitious defendant in four of the six cases. In three of those four cases, other police officers traveled to the addresses Sollon listed for the fictitious defendants in futile efforts to serve warrants.

“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.”

In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Frosh thanked Assistant Attorney General Alexander Huggins for handling this case, and the Maryland State Police for bringing this matter to the Office of the Attorney General and for conducting a thorough internal investigation.