Former SLO County employee must repay over $375K in embezzled funds, judge orders
The former San Luis Obispo County employee currently serving prison time for embezzling county funds to buy himself DJ equipment, a crossbow and other pricey items was ordered to pay back over $375,000.
In August 2024, Norman Hibble, 56, was sentenced to six years in state prison for misusing a county-issued credit card while he worked as a supervisor in the county’s Information Technology Department from April 2017 and January 2023.
Hibble used the card for “countless personal and often exorbitant purchases” including lighting and camera equipment for his personal event company, an electric scooter, a telescope and large shipping containers he used to store his fraudulent purchases in, the District Attorney’s Office said in a news release at the time.
He pleaded no contest to seven embezzlement counts on July 17, 2024, and also admitted to the sentencing enhancement of the amount stolen being more than $100,000. A no contest plea functions the same as a guilty plea without admitting fault.
At the time, the District Attorney’s Office estimated Hibble stole around $500,000 in taxpayer dollars.
Court proceedings to determine the exact amount of county money Hibble misused began in October 2024.
“The hearing length was unusually long, primarily due to the many hundreds of items fraudulently purchased with county funds,” Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth told The Tribune about the proceedings.
The actual restitution status determination hearing began in mid-December, with testimony spanning two days, during which Hibble testified and contested several purchases, Dobroth said.
In response to Hibble’s claim, the DA’s Office sought additional records and in late-April was able to establish that nearly all the contested purchases were indeed fraudulent, Dobroth said. In her ruling, San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Crystal Seiler found that Hibble’s testimony was not credible, he said.
On Wednesday, over a year and a half later, Seiler determined Hibble owes the county $377,040 in fiscal restitution.
The county originally requested a total of $400,251, then reduced the amount to $397,768, but $20,728 of that amount was for three Apple computers — two laptops and one desktop — that Hibble may have legitimately purchased using county funds, according to a restitution brief filed by the DA’s Office on Monday.
As a result, Seiler ordered Hibble to pay back only the $377,000 in county funds he used over the years and said the Apple computers should be returned to the property of the county.
Patrick Fisher, Hibble’s defense attorney, argued in his restitution brief filed with the court on May 28 that ordering restitution would be “improper” because the county is in possession of the items Hibble fraudulently purchased and some of those items could be used or sold.
Deputy DA Ben Blumenthal, who prosecuted the case, told The Tribune the county still plans to pursue the sale of expensive, unusable items — such as the DJ set, electric scooter and crossbow — and any money recovered from auctioning them off will be reduced from the restitution order.
Once signed, the order will be enforceable as a civil judgment that does not expire and cannot be discharged through bankruptcy, Blumenthal said.
Hibble called into Wednesday’s hearing over the phone from the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown, California, where he is currently serving out his prison sentence, according to the California Incarcerated Records and Information Search.
However, after some technical issues and disruptive behavior, Seiler quickly offered him the option to waive his right to be present and remove himself from the hearing.
Hibble faces other financial collection charges.
Wells Fargo Bank filed a civil collections lawsuit against him for $18,219 on Aug. 20, and Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC — a debt-purchasing company — filed a breach of contract complaint against him on Feb. 18 alleging he defaulted on a PayPal credit account and owes $2,932 in unpaid debt since July 22, 2024.
