Since admitting to New Mexico State Police in November that he stole county-owned items such as office supplies and bulletproof vests and sold them for personal gain on eBay, former Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano has been waiting to be told the time and place to turn himself in.

That day may come as early as the end of this week, Clovis-based District Attorney Matt Chandler said Monday.

"The (New Mexico) State Police agents working the case have everything they've gathered in their investigation with our office now, so the next step is getting the arrest warrant drafted for embezzlement and fraud charges," said Chandler, the special prosecutor handling the case. "But we're talking literally thousands of pages of documents and evidence, so there is not a specific timetable on when that warrant may be issued, but maybe as early as the end of the week."

That was news to Solano and his attorney, Brooke Gamble, who both found out Monday through news media about the likelihood of a warrant being issued.

"I found out that Matt Chandler was preparing to issue an arrest warrant from the media, in spite of the fact that I've written him two letters and called him numerous times, so it was a surprise to me," Gamble said. "It was puzzling to me that I would find this out from the media."

Gamble said Solano has been cooperating "since day one" of the investigation and has been willing to turn himself in without incident when charges were ready to be filed. When the former sheriff — who resigned that job Nov. 24 with a letter in which he admitted to embezzling county-owned items to help make mortgage payments — heard of Chandler's plans to draft a warrant for arrest, "he immediately called the case agent at New Mexico State Police and asked (the case agent) to tell him when and where to go."

For now, he'll have to wait a bit longer, as state police even seemed caught a little off guard Monday with media inquiries about when the warrant would be served.

"We have been working hand in hand with the District Attorney's office and Matt Chandler," State Police Lt. Eric Garcia said. "In light of this, I can say we have compiled enough facts to proceed with charges and an arrest of Greg Solano is imminent." But Garcia could not offer a more specific timetable, either, saying the ball is in Chandler's court.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia, who succeeded his former boss as sheriff after winning the November election and was sworn in during an emergency session the day of Solano's resignation, said Monday he had not been advised by anyone of the possible arrest warrant. Other than a search warrant served on his office for computer equipment that Solano may have used, he said case agents have had little if any contact with his department.

Records for Solano's eBay account indicate he sold bulletproof vests, ink cartridges, handcuffs, cellular telephones, external hard drives and other items owned by Santa Fe County. Some items were new, others were used.

"This was wrong, illegal, unethical and dishonest," Solano wrote in his letter of resignation.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3076 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at SantaFeCrime.com.