CAREER IN RUINS, SHERIFF ENDS LIFE `HE HAD ASSURED ME HE WOULD DO NO SUCH

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 23, 1992                   TAG: 9201230264
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: VICTORIA RATCLIFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
CAREER IN RUINS, SHERIFF ENDS LIFE `HE HAD ASSURED ME HE WOULD DO NO SUCH
When Bristol Sheriff Marshall Honaker put a shotgun to his chest and pulled the trigger Wednesday, he put a sudden end to a once-bright career that had taken a fatal blow less than two weeks ago.
Honaker, who resigned last week as president of the National Sheriffs' Association, was under investigation by a federal grand jury on suspicion of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars he was paid to house federal prisoners in his jail.
Honaker shot himself in the chest with a 12-gauge shotgun about 8:40 a.m. while in his office at the jail, according to City Manager Paul Spangler.
It was the first time Honaker had returned to his office since federal agents raided it and his home Jan. 10. He had said he would take a leave of absence until the investigation was complete.
Investigators seized numerous documents and files, along with his $265,000 home, two automobiles and $63,281 in cash.
Honaker, who controlled the operation of one of the largest federally accredited prisoner-holding facilities in Southwest Virginia, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Bristol Regional Medical Center at 9:05 a.m. Wednesday.
An autopsy is scheduled today, according to Dr. David Oxley, deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia.
Honaker's death came a day after a federal grand jury in Roanoke began hearing testimony about allegations that he diverted for his own use $378,000 he was paid by the District of Columbia and the U.S. Marshal's Service to house prisoners.
In an affidavit filed with the search warrant in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, IRS agent Jack Bumgardner stated that there was cause to believe Honaker was guilty of tax evasion, money laundering, defrauding a federal program and mail fraud.
Although Honaker's wife, Brenda, also was listed on the personal checking account in which the federal funds were deposited, federal authorities said Wednesday that she is not a subject of the investigation. "We had nothing to indicate she was involved in these mail frauds," a federal source said.
The affidavit stated that since January 1987, Honaker used more than 70 percent of the federal money he received to buy a house, cars, furniture and certificates of deposit for his children, and to pay for personal loans and insurance policies.
The grand jury was discharged Wednesday after federal authorities learned of Honaker's death.
Although Honaker had not been charged with a crime, his attorney, James Bowie, said Tuesday that he was scheduled to meet with federal prosecutors in Roanoke Wednesday and discuss the possibility of a plea agreement.
Bowie, who had planned to bring Honaker with him to the meeting, said Wednesday that the sheriff's death shocked him.
"You always worry about that in a situation like this when somebody falls from grace," Bowie said. "But he had assured me he would do no such thing."
Bowie said that Honaker had "an awful lot of friends . . . notwithstanding the mistake he made." The sheriff was "the most accommodating person in the world. He did more favors for more people."
Bedford County Sheriff Carl Wells, who worked with Honaker on state and national sheriffs' association matters, said Wednesday that the recent allegations against Honaker were completely out of character for the man he thought he knew.
"I thought he was the exact opposite of apparently what was there," Wells said. "I read him as a very conscientious individual. He was dedicated to the law enforcement profession. He was always an advocate and promoted the image of the sheriff's office."
Allegations of criminal activity by one of their own, especially one of such national prominence, is "a slam in the face" to everyone in law enforcement, Wells said.
Law enforcement officers around the state now must make certain their departments are not open to similar thefts, Wells said. "We've got to pick up the pieces. We've got to do something in the accounting system to make sure something like that cannot happen" in any other department.

A funeral will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at State Street United Methodist Church in Bristol. Arrangements are by Blevins Funeral Home.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB