Former SLO County employee sentenced to six years in prison after years of stealing public money
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced Wednesday that former county employee Norman Hibble was sentenced to six years in state prison for stealing public money.
On July 17 of this year, Hibble pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of misappropriation of public funds on multiple occasions between April of 2017 and October of 2023 and also admitted that he took more than $100,000 which creates the potential for a penalty enhancement for aggravated white-collar crime shared the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office in a press release about the sentencing.
Hibble first started working for San Luis Obispo County in 2008 and he was fired from his position in January of 2024 stated San Luis Obispo County Attorney's Office.
In 2016, Hibble was a supervisor in the Information Technology Department and he was issued a county credit card intended for use for official county business only explained the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
According to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office, Hibble used his county credit card for numerous personal and often "exorbitant purchases" of the course of several years and concealed his crimes by falsifying records and modifying invoices to disguise the thefts as legitimate purchases.
Hibble used the stolen funds to purchase items including: disc jockey and lighting equipment believed to be used in his personal event company, high-quality photographic gear, an electric scooter, a telescope, a crossbow, and multiple large shipping containers that he used to store some of the purchases detailed the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
The total theft is estimated to be more than $500,000 and a hearing to establish the exact restitution owed is currently scheduled for Oct. 2 of this year shared the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
"No one is above the law and those who steal from the public that they serve deserve strict accountability for their betrayal of the trust given to them," said District Attorney Dan Dow. "We are grateful for the diligence of the County Auditor staff member who detected the unusual financial activity and reported this so it could be investigated and successfully prosecuted."
The investigation was a collaboration between the District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit and the San Luis Obispo County Office of the Auditor-Controller and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Ben Blumenthal of the Major Fraud/Public Integrity Unit shared the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
