Former Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano has admitted to selling used, surplus department equipment on the Internet and pocketing the money, but The New Mexican has learned he is also being investigated for selling new gear.

According to state police investigators, Solano was purchasing equipment with county funds and reselling the merchandise on eBay before it was used by any officer or county employee.

"We do have evidence that there were new, never-used items being sold," said State Police Lt. Eric Garcia. He declined to elaborate on what those items were.

Solano resigned Nov. 24 with a detailed confession letter sent to coworkers, county officials and the media that stated he was caught up in financial difficulties and was selling old, discarded and used department equipment online.

"During the last few years, I have taken these (protective) vests and sold them online — mostly to military personnel who wanted them for extra protection overseas," Solano wrote. "I sold vests and several other items such as old cell phones left over from when we replaced department-issued phones, flashlights, police belts, and holsters.

"This was wrong, illegal, unethical and dishonest," he wrote.

Sheriff Robert Garcia, who was sworn in via telephone last week when Solano stepped down, said the department is "doing a review of all purchases" to see what the department might have procured for the sole purpose of selling it online.

The department's property custodian is not suspected of any knowledge of the alleged thefts, but investigators do want to know if Solano was simply taking items undetected or if he was misleading the property custodian about what he was doing with the items.

Reached Tuesday night, Solano referred questions to attorney Brooke Gamble. A message left after hours at Gamble's office was not returned.

Eric Garcia confirmed that while there have already been searches conducted in regard to the case, the search-warrant affidavits filed in court remain under seal until charges are filed. Garcia would not say what has been searched or whether county equipment, including computers, have been seized.

When those charges may be filed is still unclear, and First Judicial District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco on Tuesday handed the case over to Ninth Judicial District Attorney Matthew Chandler, a Republican, who earlier this month lost a bid for state attorney general.

"As First Judicial District Attorney, our office has worked closely with former Sheriff Greg Solano over the past two years," Pacheco wrote. "To avoid an appearance of impropriety, and to ensure the public's trust in the prosecutorial process, I am conflicting the Greg Solano matter to Matt Chandler, Ninth Judicial District Attorney, effective immediately."

Pacheco later said the Clovis-based district attorney was chosen in large part because "it was far away from Santa Fe County, and we need to make sure it's handled by someone who has had little, if any, working relationship with the sheriff's office here."

Chandler said he will take the case very seriously, but he would not decide on whether search-warrant information would be unsealed until he has a chance to review the investigation.

"I've prosecuted public officials in the past and prosecuted law-enforcement officers in the past," Chandler said. "Both should be held to a higher standard because people should be able to put the utmost trust in these people."

Chandler added that the victims in this case are the taxpayers of Santa Fe County, and they deserve as much transparency as can be afforded without compromising the investigation. He also said he will personally handle the investigation rather than assigning it to one of his deputy or assistant district attorneys.

Also Tuesday, State Auditor Hector Balderas said he will assist Santa Fe County in finding an independent firm to conduct a forensic audit of the sheriff's department and of the county's internal controls.

"The alleged activity publicly disclosed by former Sheriff Solano is very troubling," Balderas said. "My top priority is to assess the total loss of taxpayer dollars and prevent any further losses."

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