Bradley Kramer, who is married to the sister of Jamey Noel's wife, is part of the criminal investigation into the former sheriff, who has been charged with 25 felonies alleging theft, corruption and tax evasion.
Bradley Kramer's name has been front and center in Indiana's massive corruption investigation of former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, who is accused of stealing millions in taxpayer funds and using county employees as his personal gophers and handymen.
Kramer worked in the county jail. After Noel took office in 2015, Kramer began dating the sister of Noel's wife, whom he later married, while continuing to work under Noel, according to investigators.
But now Kramer has been identified as a person of interest in the sprawling criminal probe, according to recently filed court documents, and an immunity deal offered by the special prosecutor has been withdrawn with no stated reason, Kramer's attorney tells Inside Edition Digital.
"I was not provided with an explanation," says lawyer Jennifer Culotta. In a motion filed April 5, the attorney said her client had been interviewed days before by Indiana State Police investigators "pursuant to an immunity agreement." Three days after that interview, Culotta says, the immunity deal was withdrawn by Special Prosecutor Richard Hertel.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out for comment to Hertel. Earlier, the special prosecutor told Inside Edition Digital that additional charges are expected against Noel, his wife Misty, and their eldest daughter, Kasey.
As it stands, Noel has been charged with 25 felony counts alleging he stole an estimated $5 million from a volunteer fire agency he headed while sheriff. Noel is also accused of tax evasion, official misconduct and withdrawing more than $900,000 from the jail's commissary fund for his pleasure.
Misty and Kasey Noel are currently charged with several felonies, including multiple counts of theft and tax evasion. All three have pleaded not guilty. Misty and Kasey Noel are free on bail. The former sheriff was ordered to serve 60 days in jail last week after Special Judge Larry Medlock yelled at him in court and found him in contempt for not abiding by the terms of his bail agreement.
"You are not above the law!" Medlock shouted at Noel, and slammed his gavel so hard it broke.
From the get-go, Kramer and his 2023 application for a pension from the sheriff's deparment were part of the allegations against Noel, according to court documents filed in the case.
Investigators have alleged Noel forged and altered jail employment records to qualify Kramer for a pension he didn't deserve and that Kramer knowingly submitted those documents in his application.
Kramer has not been charged in the probe. But his attorney's April 5 motion made the first public mention that Kramer had been cooperating in the investigation, and that he was considered a person of interest in the case.
"He answered all of their questions," lawyer Culotta told Inside Edition Digital on Tuesday.
The criminal investigation of Noel began in June 2023, authorities said. Newly elected Clark County Sheriff Scottie Maples went to Indiana State Police with "unnerving and possible criminal activities by Jamey Noel," he said on his official Facebook page.
Maples had been elected Clark County sheriff in November 2022, after term limits prevented Noel from seeking a third stint in office.
Maples reported he had found a hidden wiretap in Noel's old office that led directly to an assistant chief's office. Maples also said he discovered Noel was using jail employees for his personal errands and home repairs while they were on the county clock.
The new sheriff said he turned over falsified documents claiming a jail employee was entitled to a pension that he didn't deserve. That employee was Noel's brother-in-law, authorities said.
According to court documents, Kramer resigned from the sheriff's office in July 2023, one month after the criminal probe began. He went to work for Indiana University's police force four months later, authorities said.
Kramer was fired without cause in February, while still on probation status with the university police, according to college officials.
Kramer's attorney told Inside Edition Digital her client was terminated as local media reports mounted about Noel's criminal investigation.
"I think that was a travesty," she says. Kramer is currently looking for another job.
Asked to comment about the pension allegations, Culotta replied, "my client did not put dates on those documents."
Kramer's pension has been suspended pending the state's criminal investigation, according to the sheriff's office.
Noel wore several hats while sheriff. He simultaneously headed the county Republican party, the 9th District GOP, and ran a nonprofit firefighting and rescue agency, the Utica Township Volunteer Firefighters Association, also known as New Chapel EMS.
Noel applied for credit cards in the fire agency's name, and then used those cards to purchase millions in personal goods, state police alleged in court documents filed since the criminal investigation began last year.
While sheriff, Noel registered more than 130 classic cars, including a 1959 Chevy Bel-Air, Corvettes, a Camaro, Mercedes and Cadillacs, according to search warrants filed in court. He later transferred ownership of many vehicles into his name, sold them and pocketed the money, investigators said.
None of the Noels have publicly commented on the charges against them.
In February, the Indiana State Board of Accounts released the findings of an audit by state accountants that found more than $900,000 had been spent by Noel in “questionable” and “unsupported” purchases. The state ordered Noel to repay $918,416.23, the audit said.
Noel used the commissary money for personal purchases, including a 75-inch television, as well as buying and selling county vehicles in an alleged scheme to benefit himself, authorities said. Included in the audit were more than $260,000 in "consulting" fees to a former deputy that had no description of the services rendered, the state accountants said.
Noel enraged the special judge last week when he was ordered to appear to explain why two semi-automatic handguns had been recently seized at his home. Judge Medlock had ordered Noel in November, when the defendant posted an all-cash bail of $75,000, that he must surrender all of his weapons, save for a single shotgun. If Noel failed to comply with those terms, the penalty would be serious, the judge told him.
A search last month of Noel's house by by state investigators found two guns in the basement, authorities said.
More than 80 weapons were confiscated following Noel's arrest in November, investigators said.
Kramer was involved in that search, after Noel tasked him and another man with gathering the weapons while Noel was in custody, according to court records and authorities.
Noel's attorney unsuccessfully argued last week during his client's contempt hearing that the men who'd collected the guns mistakenly missed the two weapons in the basement.
Kramer's attorney disputes that. She tells Inside Edition Digital that Kramer was speaking by phone to Noel during the entire search and that Noel instructed him where to look for weapons.
"My client was asked to go the the house to remove weapons," she says. "Mr. Noel instructed him where to go." Kramer "had no legal responsibilty for those guns," she said.
Noel's trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 6.
Related Stories
