The Shape of Things to Come for Cousin Carlo: Methuen board votes to strip jailed ex-police chief Joseph Solomon’s nearly $184,000 pension By Tonya Alanez and Bryan Hecht Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent,Updated September 24, 2026, 6:22 p.m. 54

 The Shape of Things to Come for Cousin Carlo:

Methuen board votes to strip jailed ex-police chief Joseph Solomon’s nearly $184,000 pension

By Tonya Alanez and Bryan Hecht Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent,Updated September 24, 2026, 6:22 p.m.

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The Methuen Retirement Board voted Thursday to strip former police chief Joseph Solomon, once one of the country’s highest-paid law enforcement officers, of his nearly $184,000 annual pension, nearly a week after he pleaded guilty to 17 public corruption charges.

Solomon, 65, began serving a 30-day sentence in the House of Correction Friday, the same day he admitted to circumventing civil services rules by hiring candidates he favored and who were untrained and unqualified to serve as police officers.

As part of a plea agreement, Solomon agreed to forgo future payments of his pension. Still, a formal vote by the board was required to revoke the pay for good, Methuen Mayor D.J. Beauregard said.

“There’s no degree of accountability that can ultimately make up for [Solomon’s] breach of public trust,” Beauregard said in an interview. “But at the same time this does represent, in essence, at least some closure to what the city’s been dealing with.”