Ex-Reno Councilwoman Doyle gets probation for campaign theft

RENO -- A judge sentenced a former Reno city councilwoman to one year probation Wednesday for stealing from her campaign but also criticized the attorney general's office for overzealous prosecution.

Washoe County District Judge James Hardesty ordered Sherrie Doyle to repay $2,500 to three campaign contributors, but only if the businesses say they want the money back.

Doyle earlier agreed to plead guilty to the gross misdemeanor charge, a single count of conspiracy to commit theft. She ran for re-election in November, but lost.

Before sentencing, Hardesty blasted the attorney generals office for pursuing 16 felony charges against Doyle before accepting the plea bargain Dec. 27 on the single charge.

Hardesty said her case was "the most overblown prosecution Ive ever seen," the Reno Gazette-Journal reported on its Web site Wednesday afternoon. The judge said concerns about her use or misuse of campaign contributions should have been handled as a campaign ethics complaint.

A grand jury indicted Doyle on felony charges that she stole from her 1998 and 1999 campaign contributions. Prosecutors charged that she took $10,000 from her campaign and misused another $5,000.

Her lawyer, Thomas Viloria, said all but three of the contributors said they did not want the funds returned.