Honest even in the face of his own dishonesty, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano stayed in character Wednesday when he 'fessed up to selling surplus police equipment and pocketing the money.

The term-limited Solano then resigned with just over a month left in office. He was replaced by his undersheriff, Robert García, who won the June Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election.

That should have local Republicans asking themselves why they didn't put up a candidate. The answer, of course, is that the only time their party has a prayer of winning here is when Democrats are caught in scandal — and this one broke too late for them, as well as for the three other primary candidates.

Since June, it had been looking as if county residents were in for a whole new round of sheriff-sharing, a Santa Fe County pastime in which a sheriff serves eight years, then promotes his undersheriff to succeed him — and make the old sheriff the new undersheriff. Eight years later, Democratic voters face a switcheroo from an ever-stronger-established sheriff's-office leadership.

Solano at first figured he'd cut that Mobius loop by being named U.S. marshal. For reasons suddenly clearer, that didn't happen — and Solano, who took a tentative try at our state's lieutenant governorship, was settling for service as García's second-in-command.

But later in the summer, state police were on Solano's trail: Seems he'd been cashing in on county inventory.

Noting that overseas-bound soldiers and their families were having to buy protective vests the Pentagon was lax in supplying, the sheriff went online with good deals on vests left behind when deputies resigned, and those past their expiration dates. Next thing he knew, he was selling old cell phones, flashlights, belts and holsters — all as ways of making up for his personal-finance woes.

His $68,000-a-year salary just couldn't keep up with his expenses — which included $1,500-a-month payments on a mortgage of nearly $200,000. He'd been fighting off foreclosure. His ill-gotten gains on the equipment sales could run into five figures.

By way of explanation rather than excuse, the famed-as-forthright Solano described himself Wednesday as one of so many Americans trying to keep his family afloat in tough financial times.

He was quick to admit that what he did "was wrong, illegal, unethical and dishonest." He's ready, he said, to face the consequences. Public-relations master to the end, Solano talked of paying back what he took; but since he's just lost his job, and his home might be next, county taxpayers shouldn't hold their breath waiting for the money.

Sending him to the slammer should be a slam dunk even for a district attorney and state attorney general given to glacier-paced prosecutions. The highly personable Solano, under ordinary circumstances, would be a prime candidate for probation — but this comparatively minor theft was committed by someone charged with the utmost in public trust. By his own admission, he's a dirty cop — and a judge and/or jury's got to throw the book at him, once state investigations are completed.

Will evidence of worse wrongdoing come out of it? For all his disarming candor, state police say Solano's written confession wasn't entirely accurate. Meanwhile, Santa Fe County has a mess on its hands. County manager Katherine Miller will run a serious audit of the department.

As for the new sheriff in town, Robert García enters under a cloud: Solano made a big deal about García being his mentor and buddy during the primary campaign. So far, there's not an ounce of evidence that García knew a thing about Solano's side business. But while that might exonerate him, Santa Feans might well wonder how sharp a sheriff we're getting. Didn't whoever ratted out Solano put a bug in García's ear?

Maybe not — and maybe we're getting a good public servant. To be on the safe side, however, state investigators will have to stay on the county's case.