Former southern Indiana Sheriff Jamey Noel was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a judge accepted his plea agreement in Clark County Circuit Court in Jeffersonville, Indiana on Monday.
Special Judge Larry Medlock said Noel will have three years of the sentence suspended to probation and also ordered him to pay $270,000 in fines and more than $3 million in restitution to agencies affected by his activities.
“You’ve tarnished the badge and failed everyone in law enforcement,” Medlock said just before he issued the sentence,
Noel, Clark County’s sheriff from 2015-22 and also once led New Chapel EMS in Clark County, was accused of using a business card for personal purchases and having sheriff’s office employees work at a barn where he stored a collection of classic cars, among other things. He pleaded guilty to multiple charges of corrupt business influence, theft, tax evasion and official misconduct in August. Four charges of ghost employment were dismissed at that hearing.
Monday’s hearing included two hours of witness impact statements from former New Chapel employees and officials, law enforcement officials and residents who alleged their family members had died because of inadequate emergency services.
Noel cried at times while a number of former colleagues and citizens of Clark County testified against him during the hearing. Testifying before the judge, Noel said the charges against him were “all my fault” and his family was the “victims of my deceit.”
“I apologize to all of the citizens of Clark County,” he said.
After the courtroom heard from at least three witnesses who blamed delays in ambulance services as a main reason for why they lost a loved one from a medical emergency, current New Chapel CEO Matt Owen said Noel “stole” the company’s credibility and, citing Noel’s alleged use of the company credit card, said New Chapel struggled with staffing issues while Noel purchased vintage cars.
“The shadow of your actions made (New Chapel) out to be perceived criminals,” Owen said.
Mark Grube, the assistant chief of the Clark County Sheriff’s Department, said in court he sought an Indiana State Police investigation of Noel’s activities after finding documents he believed to be falsified. Grube said it was not until after the investigation had started that he realized he too had been affected by the actions stated in the investigation.
“No sentence will ever make them whole,” Grube said when referring to his colleagues in the sheriff’s office.
In a news conference after the hearing, Special Prosecutor Ric Hertel said Clark County residents “can turn the page” now that Noel had been sentenced.
“This chapter’s closed, then you can move forward and the healing can kind of start to begin,” Hertel said. “I know it won’t be overnight, maybe not next year, but in time. At least in my eyes, the grip Jamey Noel had on this community is over.”
Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@gannett.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jamey Noel case: Former sheriff receives 15-year sentence
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