If ever a public servant deserved to have the book thrown at him, former state Rep. Dan Doyle does. The Salem Republican resigned from the Legislature early in the 2005 session, forced out when it became clear he had channeled campaign contributions into his own pocket to pay his family’s living expenses. Doyle’s problems began in mid-January, when the state began investigating charges that he had diverted contributions to personal use. He pleaded guilty last month to 11 counts of falsifying campaign finance reports and now awaits sentencing in Marion County Circuit Court.

The former legislator did not simply take postage stamps from his campaign to use on his personal mail. He admitted diverting $19,000 in campaign funds to his family and his law firm, but that the state attorney general’s office believes his irregularities involved a much larger sum – as much as $147,000 larger. Either way, Doyle’s offense was serious.

Doyle argued, and his lawyers continue to argue today, that the former lawyer could not support himself with his law practice while serving in the Legislature. Being a lawmaker simply took all his time. To feed his family, the claim goes, he turned to fraud. The lawyers now are asking the judge to place Doyle on probation for his crimes, presumably because the 11 felonies were committed as a result of Doyle’s service to the citizens of Oregon as a legislator.

That is simply hooey. If anything, the circumstances call for the stiffest possible sentence, not the lightest. At the time of his downfall, Doyle was serving as co-chair of the joint Ways and Means committee, arguably the most important committee in the Legislature. He broke voters’ trust by violating the very laws he was elected to help create. Moreover, as a lawyer, Doyle had a special obligation to live by the rules, something the Oregon Bar Association clearly understands. Doyle is expected to file a Form B resignation, which would halt the bar association’s current investigation into his legal ethics, in the near future.

The circuit court should treat Doyle’s legal problems with equal seriousness. The attorney general’s office is asking that he be sentenced to 15 months in prison, or, if the judge sentences him to less time, to a fine, as well. The secretary of state’s office figures such a fine could top $127,000. While the prison sentence is most appropriate, either punishment is well deserved. Doyle violated the public trust by his actions, and he did so from a position of power.