Judge sets sentencing date for Jamey Noel, the former sheriff who pleaded guilty to 27 felonies

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jamey Noel, the former Clark County sheriff who pleaded guilty last month to 27 felony charges, will be sentenced Oct. 14 in Clark County Circuit Court.

On Aug. 26, Noel pleaded guilty to theft, obstruction of justice, tax evasion, money laundering, corrupt business influence and official misconduct. Noel agreed to the plea deal nearly a year after he was arrested and Indiana State Police investigators raided his home in southern Indiana.

Special Judge Larry Medlock took the plea deal under advisement. Before accepting the plea agreement, Medlock said he wanted to hear from anyone in the community who's been harmed.

As part of the plea deal, Noel was ordered to pay more than $3.1 million in restitution to four different public agencies:

$2,870,924 to Utica Township Volunteers Firefighters Association (dba New Chapel EMS)
$173,155.07 to the Indiana Department of Revenue
$61,190.77 to the Clark County Sheriff's Department
$35,245.60 to Indiana State Police

Four of Noel's charges of felony ghost employment were dismissed as part of the deal. He agreed to serve a total sentence of 15 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with three years suspended to probation. He'll receive credit for days served, beginning June 8, 2024. Noel has been in custody in the Scott County Jail on a $1.5 million bond. His jury trial was scheduled to begin in November.

Much of the damning evidence in the case has been released as part of the lengthy investigation into Noel's corruption and use of public funds to support he and his family's lavish lifestyle. Noel, who served as Clark County Sheriff from 2015-23 and also led New Chapel Fire/EMS and the Utica Township Volunteer Fire Department, has for months faced allegations he used millions of dollars from the agencies for his own use.

Some of the theft accusations against Noel were outlined in an audit released in April of the Utica Township Volunteer Firefighters Association and New Chapel EMS. The audit revealed he used taxpayer money to pay for vacations, Rolex watches, high-end clothing, child support, college tuition and more.

The Indiana State Board of Accounts said, from 2019-23, New Chapel received a total of $3.9 million in public money from Clark and Floyd counties. Over that same four-year period, Noel was paid $582,564 in wages, as listed on his W-2. But auditors said he was paid even more money off the books. Over that four-year period, auditors said New Chapel made $4.4 million in payments on an American Express credit card, $2 million of which Noel spent alone.

The audit details the roughly $4.4 million Noel, his wife Misty and daughter Kasey all racked up on the New Chapel EMS American Express credit card, roughly between 2019 and the end of 2023. To date, investigators have made public more than 60 search warrants and their findings since their probe began last summer, each outlining evidence seized or otherwise learned in the case.

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