Norman Hibble
Former County Employee to Serve Prison Time for Embezzlement
Author: Administrative Office
Date: 8/22/2024 10:21 AM
Norman Hibble to serve prison time for embezzlement.
A judge today sentenced former County of San Luis Obispo employee Norman Hibble to six years in state prison for stealing money from the County through fraudulent use of his County credit card. Superior Court Judge Crystal Tindell Seiler also ruled that Hibble pay restitution to the County for his theft in an amount to be determined at a future court hearing.
Hibble worked as a Supervisor in the Information Technology Department and pleaded guilty in July to seven felony counts of Misappropriation of Public Funds with an Aggravated White Collar Crime Enhancement for taking more than $100,000. He had worked for the County since 2008 and was terminated from employment in January of this year after the thefts were discovered by employees within the Information Technology and Auditor-Controller’s departments. He was arrested in February following a months-long County investigation and concurrent criminal investigation.
“From the initial discovery of unusual transactions, and throughout an extensive investigation of evidence with cooperation from the District Attorney’s Office, it was uncovered that Mr. Hibble had been directing County resources over many years for his personal benefit, circumventing controls with escalating levels of deception, manipulation and falsification of records,” said Auditor-Controller Jim Hamilton.
Hibble had been illegally purchasing equipment for his own use such as DJ and lighting equipment, camera gear, an electric scooter, and other recreational and storage equipment. Because the crimes involve the theft of public funds, Hibble will not be eligible to serve his time in County jail and will lose his accrued pension benefits during the time frame the crimes were committed.
“Mr. Hibble’s theft was not only a deceptive misuse of public funds, but a terrible betrayal of the people he was paid to serve” said County Counsel Rita Neal. “His disregard of the impacts of his actions, not only on taxpayers, but fellow County employees who work hard to uphold the public’s trust was difficult to comprehend. We think prison is exactly where Mr. Hibble belongs.”
As part of the County’s internal investigation, new safeguards are being designed to prevent similar breaches of County funds. The County will also do all it can to seek restitution of funds through whatever means are legally available, in addition to severing Mr. Hibble’s pension.
The following statement was read in court by County Counsel Rita Neal:
"My name is Rita Neal and I serve as County Counsel for the County of San Luis Obispo. I’m here to read a statement that has been prepared by the leadership of the Information Technology Department where Mr. Hibble worked, the Auditor Controller’s office and the Administrative Office.
Before I give my statement, I want to sincerely thank the District Attorney’s office, especially Mr. Blumenthal and Mr. Pflum for their dedicated and hard work on this case. I also want to personally thank those County employees who bravely came forward with heir concerns and those who worked hard to uncover the totality of Mr. Hibble’s theft. These County employees deserve our praise and recognition.
While any theft of public funds by an employee of the County would be troubling to discover, yours is particularly disturbing. You betrayed the trust invested in you over time to handle the responsibilities given to you with every promotion and pay raise. Not only were you stealing from every person who pays taxes, you bloodied the spirit of public service of those around you. Your selfish actions created a collective questioning of the integrity of those who serve honorably every day. Not only does it put a black mark on the public’s trust of our organization as a whole, but there are also hard-working honest people paying a price for your actions: Those who have been kicking themselves wondering how they could have missed what you were doing under their watch. Those who caught it and questioned their own audits because they, initially, found it hard to believe you would do such a thing. And those who considered you a friend are now questioning their own judgement.
Your actions have led to a new level of checks and balances within the County accounting procedures. That will ultimately be a good thing. But in the meantime, it means daily reminders of your betrayal.
We are glad you, at the very least, owned up to your thefts to allow for your sentence today. We will work to recover as much as possible in restitution and prevent you from collecting the bulk of your pension. It’s tragic the vow of public service, paycheck, the pension, and the people you worked with weren’t enough to inspire you to do your job with integrity and avoid the sad outcome you and so many others are experiencing today instead.
We can’t express enough to this Court how Mr. Hibble’s actions were the utmost breach of trust to County residents and its employees. He does not deserve sympathy, empathy or leniency in his sentencing today."
