Gov. Eric Holcomb, right, and Indiana Adjutant Major General Dale Lyles of the Indiana National Guard during a virtual press conference on Aug. 30. Photo is a screenshot of press conference.

By Whitney Downard
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANA — Any decision about whether or not to pardon former Clark County Sheriff and longtime Republican operative Jamey Noel of his crimes won’t come from the Holcomb administration, Gov. Eric Holcomb said Friday, Aug. 30.

“I would just repeat what I’ve said — that never once did he utter one unethical word to me in that friendship,” Holcomb said. “… it will be a question for a successor.”

Earlier this week, Noel pleaded guilty to 27 felony charges as part of a massive, ongoing corruption case that could put Noel behind bars for more than a decade.

Noel led Holcomb’s campaign in 2016 and was part of his transition team. He also served as chairman of Holcomb’s reelection bid and, prior to Holcomb, attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C. on a personal invitation from former Gov. Mike Pence, who was Trump’s vice president.

But Holcomb, speaking during a virtual Zoom press conference from Slovakia, said that the pardoning process would require a review of the conviction and sentencing. As of Friday, the judge assigned to the case hadn’t yet accepted Noel’s guilty plea nor had a sentencing hearing been scheduled.

“Per Indiana code, there’s a process — a pardoning process — that has to unfold or occur. And that includes, dependent on the actual sentence, a duration of time served and what the crime is, what the conviction actually is,” Holcomb said. “And so in this case, from what I’ve read before, this would be way after my term concluded.”

Such a process, Holcomb said, “would be years down the road.”

Holcomb is term limited and will end his second term in January. Three candidates have won their respective party nominations and are vying to succeed him: Republican Mike Braun, Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater.

Holcomb pointed to the pardon he granted Keith Cooper, who spent nearly a decade in prison for a robbery he didn’t commit and received a $7.5 million settlement in 2022. Coope was convicted in a 1996 robbery, but later DNA evidence pointed to another suspect and witnesses recanted their statements.

Cooper had appealed to Pence for a pardon and was denied. Holcomb pardoned Cooper less than one month after taking office.

“I was running for governor and was rightly asked, ‘What would my decision be?’ And I said I needed to review it,” Holcomb said. “I had the opportunity of reviewing the facts and then applying them to the authority that was granted to the governor. And so my successor will be in that same situation on a number of cases, not just this.”

Takeaways From Slovakia

In contrast to other international trips, which seek to curate economic development relationships and business opportunities for the Hoosier State, Slovakia and Indiana has a three-decade long relationship centered around national security and defense capabilities.

“This hasn’t been centered on trade in Slovakia, it’s been centered on our partnership and those relationships which are of paramount importance,” Holcomb said.

After arriving in Slovakia earlier this week, Holcomb attended an event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the 1944 Slovak National Uprising during World War II in Banska Bystrica.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was critically injured in an assassination attempt in May but appeared to be “in remarkable shape” during a sit-down with Holcomb on Thursday after giving a nationally televised speech.

“That was quite a historic scene. But to be able to have conversations about where we’re going, about the different threats around the world — and Indiana’s role in it, Slovakia’s role in it, obviously — was an enormous source of pride,” Holcomb said.

The diplomacy fostered between the two governments has created opportunities, such as Indiana hosting Slovakian military members and Hoosier airmen delivering military aircraft.

The Slovakian celebration, commemorating freedom from Nazi Germany, reminded Indiana Adjutant Major General Dale Lyles of a Fourth of July holiday when America celebrates its independence.

“Slovakia is a very proud nation and there’s a lot of opportunities for American defense industry to partner with the European defense industry and we are forging ways to do that now,” Lyles said.

Despite having just 136 days left as governor, Holcomb insisted that his administration would continue “to keep up — not just the momentum, but the velocity.”

Especially in light of news of the continued money asks from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, which he described as “a good problem to have” because it signaled growth and “bringing home the bacon.”

“We’re not going to be a lame duck. We’ve got 136 days, over 3,200 hours. We’re going to run through the tape and pass the baton off, hopefully operating at peak performance in terms of economic growth,” Holcomb said. “Because with that … it opens up a lot more choices in how you build community and how you are able to build up people, which is your most important asset.”