PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Former East
Washington Police Chief Donald Solomon was sentenced to 11 years in jail for
violations of the federal Hobbs Act.
FBI surveillance tape helped
put him there.
One of those tapes captured
Solomon saying, “I’m the best cop money can buy.”
That was a conversation between
an informant and Solomon about protecting a drug deal in 2011.
U.S. Attorney David Hickton
argued in person for a stern sentence at Friday’s hearing, and says the “best
cop money can buy” reference stuck with investigators.
“Well, that’s the line that
stands out above all others,” said Hickton. “I made a point in court today that
that line was not retrieved from him. He volunteered that line. And there were
several other points in the audio and video recordings where it was clear that
he was voluntarily engaging in this behavior. There was another line that
captured some attention where he was asked if he wanted to continue in this
type of behavior and he said ‘hell yeah.’”
Federal investigators also
developed surveillance of Solomon as chief actually protecting drug deals as
well as threatening to take out personal vendettas against a former girlfriend.
“If she came to my apartment I
got body bags in my apartment, so put her in a body bag, wait till it was
night, put her in the car. Take her someplace, drop her off,” Solomon is quoted
as saying on one of the recordings.
The defense argued that Solomon
should be given credit for his work as a paramedic and police officer for 38
years without any criminal activity. He was.
His 11-year sentence, imposed
by Judge Joi Flowers Conti, is at the lower end of the term prescribed in the
sentencing guidelines.
On Thursday night, Solomon
attended high school graduation for one of his sons. Today in court, he
apologized to both his friends in law enforcement, and his children, because in
his words, “They’re the ones I’ve hurt the most.”
