LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel is facing more charges in a fraud investigation as he nears the end of a 60-day stay behind bars for contempt of court.
Six new charges were filed Monday against Noel, according to court documents. Those include one count of money laundering and five additional counts of theft. All six charges are felonies.
Noel is scheduled to appear in Clark County Circuit Court on the new charges Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
The charges are in addition to the two dozen felony charges the former sheriff already faces, including theft, ghost employment, official misconduct, fraud and tax evasion. In total, he now faces 31 charges.
Noel served as Clark County Sheriff from 2015-23 and also led New Chapel Fire and EMS and the Utica Township Volunteer Fire Department.
According to court documents, he's accused of money laundering between June 2019 and August 2023. The charge covers various theft accusations made against him throughout the case.
As for the additional theft charges filed Monday, one alleges Noel used Clark County Sheriff's Department money to purchase items in excess of $50,000 between June 2019 and December 2022.
Items include five lawnmowers totaling $18,651; an HVAC system costing more than $6,500; a Dodge Ram costing $11,000; and 26 shipping containers estimated to be worth more than $25,000.
The shipping containers, containing missing government surplus property, were seized in March as part of the Noel investigation. According to search warrants released at the time, the containers were found at a business in Deputy, Indiana. The owner of the business told investigators Noel had asked him to store the containers during the last weeks of his term as sheriff in 2022.
The second theft charge filed alleges Noel paid nearly $51,000 in child support using funds from the Utica Township Volunteer Fire Fighter Association.
The third theft charge accuses Noel of using Utica Fire Department money to purchase seven vintage or classic cars for his personal collection, including a 1957 $40,000 Chevrolet; a 1966 $33,919 Pontiac GTO; a 1979 $20,000 Pontiac Trams Am; a 1969 $52,500 Plymouth Road Runner; a 1970 $45,000 Dodge; a 1959 $45,000 Corvette, and a $21,000 BMW.
The fourth theft charge accuses Noel of using more than $50,000 in Utica Fire Department money in 2022 and 2023 for an HVAC system and chimney repair at his Jeffersonville home; a Cub Cadet lawnmower worth $11,000; the purchase of a Cessna single-engine airplane and its repair.
The final theft charge alleges Noel again used Utica Fire Department money to pay for more than $53,000 in charges to an American Express card and a Sam's Club credit card.
Many of the theft accusations were outlined previously in multiple search warrants released throughout the Noel investigation.To date, investigators have made public more than 50 search warrants and their findings since their probe began last summer, each outlining evidence seized or otherwise learned in the case.
The new charges filed Monday come as Noel nears the end of a60-day sentenceafter beingheld in contempt of courtfor not following the conditions of his release.
Noel was arrested inNovember 2023on 15 felony charges related to fraud, misconduct, theft, ghost employment and public corruption after a nearly yearlong investigation that is ongoing.Another 10 chargeswere filed against him in early February, including theft and tax evasion.
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The former sheriff had been free on a $75,000 cash bond since his first court appearance. One of the conditions of his bond prohibited him from possessing any firearms aside from a shotgun allowed for "personal protection." But when Indiana State Police investigators conducted a search of Noel's home,they found two handguns.
Noel's wife, Misty Noel, and their daughter, Kasey, are also charged in the investigation. They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Investigators believe they racked up millions of dollars in charges on trips, expensive clothes, jewelry, tanning, gas, alcohol, vaping products, salon services and more. The charges are among millions police accuse the three charged to fire department credit cards and paid with fire department funds.
Misty and Kasey Noel are facing multiple felony charges for theft and tax evasion. Kasey Noel was arrested in March on nine felony charges, including five counts of theft and four counts of tax evasion. Search warrants in the corruption case of Jamey Noel indicate his daughter charged more than $100,000 to the Utica Volunteer Fire Department and New Chapel EMS.
According to the detailed charges, Kasey Noel purchased clothing, tanning, cosmetics, manicure and pedicure services, food, tickets, trips, alcohol, utilities, vaping products, gas, Netflix and items from Amazon. The charges occurred between October 2018 and September 2023, totaling $108,660.59.
Misty and Kasey Noel have since pleaded not guilty and are out of jail on bond.
Some of the theft accusations against Jamey Noel were outlined in an auditreleased in April of the Utica Township Volunteer Firefighters association and New Chapel EMS. The audit revealed Noel used taxpayer money to pay for vacations, Rolex watches, high-end clothing, child support, college tuition and more. TheIndiana State Board of Accountsconducted the audit for the period of Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2023
From 2019 to 2023,auditors said New Chapel received a total of $3.9 million in public money from Clark and Floyd counties. Over that same 4-year time 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 4-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.
Noel and his family are now being ordered by the state to pay all of the money back, which is an estimated $4.4 million. That's in addition to the$918,000 he's been asked to repayafter a state audit of the Clark County Sheriff's Office Jail Commissary fund. The audit covered 2015-17 and 2019-22.
A May court ruling prohibits the Noels from selling any assets as part of the state's civil suit against the former sheriff to recover the millions of dollars in alleged misused public money.
The ruling came after IndianaAttorney General Todd Rokitaasked a judge to issue an injunction and a restraining orderto stop Noel, and his family, from selling assets such as cars, homes, jewelry and clothing.
Rokita wants to stop the sale of any cars, homes, guns, planes, boats, clothing, jewelry or art, among other property, so all public funds can be paid back. Ultimately, the judge issued the temporary restraining order to block sales of the Noel family's assets, which are now frozen.
A jury trial for Jamey Noel is scheduled to begin in November.
Previous Jamey Noel Coverage:
- Court ruling prohibits family of Jamey Noel from selling any assets until civil case resolved
- Indiana Attorney General files complaint to receive public funds back from Jamey Noel
- Investigators seize items from now former Clark County deputy auditor in ongoing Jamey Noel investigation
- Judge doesn't extend 60-day jail punishment for former sheriff Jamey Noel
- State asks Jamey Noel to pay back $4.4 million to New Chapel EMS for 'unlawful' purchases
- ISP seizes classic cars from property of former sheriff Jamey Noel, accused of buying them with taxpayer money
- 'Not above the law' | Jamey Noel headed back to jail for 60 days following contempt hearing
- Judge orders Jamey Noel taken into custody after contempt of court hearing
- Jamey Noel accused of charging more than $350,000 in vacations, cigars on Utica Fire credit cards
- Investigators looking into whether Jamey Noel used New Chapel credit card for daughters' college tuition
- Jamey Noel ordered to appear in court after investigators find guns he wasn't supposed to have
- New Chapel Fire and EMS suing former chief Jamey Noel for credit card spending
- New search warrant accuses Jamey Noel of using fire department funds for high-end clothing
- Judge sets $20,000 full cash bond for daughter of former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel
- Daughter of former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel arrested, faces 9 felony charges
- Police find 26 shipping containers of missing government surplus property in Jamey Noel investigation
- Investigators looking into whether millions in credit card charges linked to Jamey Noel were paid with public funds
- State agency asking former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel to reimburse $918,000
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