Former Indiana sheriff Jamey Noel says he will plead guilty to 27 felony counts including money laundering, corruption, tax evasion and theft.
There are plenty of folks in Clark County, Indiana, who say former sheriff Jamey Noel deserves to spend a very long time behind bars.
The special prosecutor says that time should be 12 years in state prison with an additional three years of supervised probation.
But Noel's future will be decided by special Judge Larry Medlock at a sentencing hearing next month. He has already yelled at Noel from the bench, slammed his gavel so hard it broke, and thrown him in jail for contempt of court.
On Aug. 26, after Noel testified he had agreed to a plea deal with the special prosecutor, the judge pronounced his criminal acts "shameful."
Noel admitted to stealing more than $5 million in public funds to buy a private plane, $800 belts, 130-plus classic cars, foreign vacations, designer clothes, lavish dinners and surplus military equipment. He also acknowledged using county funds to pay child support for a son he had with his mistress.
For some reason, he also bought himself a train.
It took about 30 minutes to read each count in court, and for Noel to answer "yes, sir," when asked if he intended to change his plea to guilty on 27 out of 31 felonies filed against him since the Indiana State Police began investigating him more than a year ago.
After listening to each charge, Judge Medlock sighed for several seconds, shook his head and uttered one word.
"Shameful," Medlock said.
Then he announced he wasn't going to accept the plea deal until he hears from members of the public who say they were victimized by Noel while he was the top elected lawman in Clark County from 2015 until January 2023.
The special prosecutor's phone rang like crazy after the judge recited his office number in open court. An online form has been made available to residents who want to address the judge at Noel's sentencing hearing Oct. 14.
The list of crimes Noel has acknowledged is staggering in scope and steeped in greed, authorities say.
For many who have known and watched Noel over the years, there is one mind-boggling question: How did he get away with flaunting stolen millions in plain sight for so long?
Noel's former sister-in-law, as well as a former colleague, tell Inside Edition Digital that people in Clark County and surrounding areas often attributed his ostentatious, brazen wealth to the "Noel Mafia."
Not that anyone really understood where his millions were coming from, they said.
Hope Noel
Hope Noel was married to Jamey Noel's brother, Leon, for four years. Together, they had a son, Jack, who is now 16.
Leon Noel died in 2018 from hemochromatosis. He was 43. Jamey Noel was executor of the estate, according to probate court records.
The teen, his mother, and the other two heirs of Leon Noel have sued Jamey Noel, claiming he stole tens of thousands from their father's estate. State investigators had earlier filed probable cause affidavits that made the same allegations.
Jamey Noel has not been charged in connection with his brother's estate and has denied the civil suit claims.
Niece Taylor Noel and nephews Jack Noel and Dorian Noel allege in their suit that their uncle Jamey pocketed more than $68,000 that belonged to them. They didn't know anything was wrong until media reports began surfacing about the state's massive investigation of Jamey Noel's tenure as sheriff, according to the civil complaint.
Then state investigators started calling, Hope Noel tells Inside Edition Digital.
"They were shocked," Hope Noel says. "We were all shocked. I was mad. I got the phone calls. I had to tell all the kids, and they're just like, 'What?'"
The estate of William Noel included two homes, according to probate court records. His children allege in their suit that Jamey Noel sold both houses for far less than they were worth.
One home was fraudulently sold to Kasey Noel, Jamey's grown daughter, in April 2019, with Jamey giving her $36,000 in escrow, which was not repaid to the heirs, they claim.
Their uncle also stole more than $50,000 from the estate to buy a vintage muscle car, a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, the suit alleges.
The second home overseen by the estate was sold by Jamey Noel in May 2019, with Noel paying himself $16,000 for basement work that he didn't do, according to state investigators and the heirs.
"I was upset just knowing that, as a family member and as Leon's brother, there was no reason for this. I don't understand why he would ever do this to anyone, let alone his brother," she says.
Hope and Leon Noel had divorced in 2011, she says, but remained cordial and committed co-parents.
People had long talked about Jamey Noel and his family's extravagant lifestyle, wondering how a county sheriff and his wife, who worked as a nurse, could afford several homes, lavish vacations, designer clothes and myriad souped-up classic cars that he drove around town, Hope Noel says.
"We don't live in a very big area," she says. "Everybody knows Jamey. They were very flashy with their money, the plastic surgeries, the Botox, the purses, the clothes, the designer-everything, cars. They absolutely wanted for nothing.
"People started questioning that stuff," she says, "How do they afford lifestyle, taking the lavish trips that they took?"
According to state investigators, the Noels afforded such luxuries because Jamey, Misty and Kasey were stealing millions from a county jail fund and a nonprofit fire agency — Utica Township Volunteer Firefighters Association, also known as New Chapel EMS — which Jamey Noel headed and founded.
Misty and Kasey Noel have been charged with multiple counts of theft and tax evasion for allegedly using credit cards in the name of the fire agency to buy tens of thousands worth of beauty treatments, plastic surgery, Amazon purchases and tanning appointments.
Misty and Kasey Noel have pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately next month, according to court records. None of the Noels have publicly commented on their cases.
"Who in their right mind just takes everything and acts like it's theirs?" Hope Noel asks. "I don't get it. The amount of stuff Jamey has done is hard to wrap your head around," she says.
"They went to Rome. They went to Florida all the time. Nobody could figure it out, let alone me," she says. "I used to call it, and still do call it, the Noel Mafia. Because there (were) just too many people involved."
Shawn Bostock
Shawn Bostock is a community activist in southern Indiana. He briefly worked for Jamey Noel at the fire agency 20 years ago, but says he was fired after confronting Noel about alleged corruption.
Bostock, who was born and raised in Clark County, says he worked for Noel from 2003 to 2004 as a firefighter and often clashed with his boss over how the agency was run. Bostock says Noel fired him after he refused to cooperate in alleged corruption within the fire agency.
Authorities called him for assistance after their corruption probe began in June 2023, he says.
"I was contacted by the Indiana State Police early on because I knew the players," Bostock tells Inside Edition Digital. "The investigators were all from out of town. They knew nobody involved, and my name had came up to them a few times," he says.
Bostock is one of several area residents posting to social media about the state investigation, and the damage done to the county, he says.
The nonprofit fire agency, which also provided ambulance and paramedic service, has been decimated by the amount of money stolen by Jamey Noel, according to local authorities. The former sheriff pocketed more than half of the agency's government funding, investigators recently said in probable cause affidavits.
The missing funds have already forced layoffs of emergency employees, officials said. As of Sept. 1, the fire agency no longer provides services, agency officials announced.
Bostock said the biggest danger now facing residents is "the potential of death because of his negligence."
Like Hope Noel, Bostock said he, too, called the former sheriff's family "the Noel Mafia."
But he sees hope for the future, now that Noel has admitted guilt, and residents want to speak directly to the judge before the former sheriff's sentencing is passed.
"I am seeing a massive outreach of people that never really paid attention to politics or matters of safety," Bostock says.
Hope Noel sees hope as well. Though in a much different form.
She hopes Judge Medlock rejects Noel's plea agreement and sends him away for much longer than 12 years.
"It ain't over yet," she says. "That judge doesn't play. We've all seen how he reacts to Jamey."
She says it is a very good sign that Judge Medlock didn't immediately accept the plea agreement.
"There's still a chance. Jamey doesn't deserve to get out of prison at all, ever."
When it comes to sentencing, "I'm hoping for life," she says.
