Ex-Sheriff Sentenced for Buying Rolexes, Private Plane With Taxpayer Money

An Indiana sheriff has been sentenced to over a decade in prison for using taxpayer money as his own personal slush fund, purchasing Rolexes, classic cars, and even a private jet, Law & Crime reported.

Jamey Noel, who served as sheriff of Clark County from 2015 until 2022, pleaded guilty in August to a total of 27 charges including theft, tax evasion, and official misconduct. On Monday, Noel was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Three of those years will be suspended and served as probation. Noel is also on the hook for more than $270,000 in fines and $3 million in restitution.

Noel also oversaw the New Chapel Fire and EMS. He used one of that organization’s credit cards to purchase a whopping $4.4 million worth luxury items for himself and his family. According to court documents, Noel spent $15,000 on Rolexes, $25,000 for a Cessna airplane which later cost him another $16,000 in repairs, and $160,000 on Amazon.

Noel was arrested last year after investigators flagged his suspicious spending habits. His wife and daughter are also facing charges related to the scheme.

At Noel’s sentencing, Judge Larry Medlock castigated the former sheriff for his greed. Medlock specified that Noel’s crimes were not victimless. “One outlandish discovery after another,” Medlock said of the case. “You have failed everyone…bullying those who would not submit to your will.”

Roughly 20 people testified at the trial as to how Noel’s theft affected them personally. The institutions from which the former sheriff was pilfering money were already strapped for cash, and his unauthorized purchases led to great difficulties for his employees and his constituents. Much of the money Noel stole could have been used to make conditions at the county’s jail much safer, which indirectly led to the death of inmate Christopher Sweet in 2017. Sweet died after complaining of chest pains, but the jail was too short-staffed to provide him timely aid.

“I hope you suffer every day,” Sweet’s mother, Janice, told Noel in a victim impact statement at his sentencing. “I hope you rot in prison.”

Later in the hearing, Noel offered an apology of sorts for his crimes . “I do not look forward to the next 12 years but I understand why I will be spending time in prison, and I accept this,” he told the judge.