Former Nevada attorney general official accused of criminal past to fight firing

RENO - Linda Honey, who was fired last month as the Nevada attorney general's chief investigator after being accused of hiding her criminal past, says she'll fight to clear her name.

Honey maintained she made no secret about her criminal history since she was first hired by the state eight years ago, and said she has hired a lawyer to fight back.

"I'm ruined - me and my family. I owned up to my problems in the early 1990s," Honey told a Reno newspaper.

Alcoholism was the problem, Honey said. "I got sober on March 10, 1992. I have been sober 13 years come this March. ... Now I'm a different person," she said.

Her lawyer, Sue Trimmer of Reno, criticized the attorney general's office for leaking information about Honey's past.

Honey pleaded no contest to a felony, writing about $5,000 worth of bad checks, in 1992 in Northern California. The felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and dismissed after Honey made restitution and spent 13 days in jail.

She also was convicted of misdemeanor theft of property worth less than $20. Two other charges, including public drunkenness, were dropped.

"What we want is to resolve this thing. Have it go away and her employment file cleaned up," Trimmer said. "We certainly didn't approve this going to the press with private information. That was malice."

Trimmer said she suspects Attorney General Brian Sandoval fired Honey to eliminate any blemishes on his record.

In November, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., recommended Sandoval for a federal judgeship in Reno. Sandoval would have to undergo a background investigation.

Sandoval and a top assistant declined to comment.

"It's a personnel matter, and it's not appropriate to comment any further at this time," said Ann Wilkinson, assistant attorney general.

Honey said she disclosed her two convictions when she submitted her resumé to the state before she was hired and when she was transferred to the attorney general's office 31Ú2 years ago.

Honey, 43, was notified of her termination on Dec. 10, a day after she lost a baby in emergency surgery.

Until then, she oversaw a staff of 40 to 50 investigators and met weekly with Sandoval as a member of his leadership team.

Before moving to Nevada, Honey worked in California as a Sacramento police officer, Butte County correctional officer and Placer County sheriff's deputy.