Ex-sheriff took out bank loans for business – but paid gambling debts instead, feds say
A former Alabama sheriff accused of lying to get bank loans to pay down his personal debts could spend decades in prison, according to federal prosecutors.
William Ray Norris, 44, pleaded guilty Monday, Sept. 26, to a count of making a false statement to a federally insured institution, according to court documents obtained by McClatchy News.
The plea comes about six months after Norris, the former Clarke County sheriff, and his business partner were named in a nine-count indictment filed earlier this year by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Alabama’s Southern District. Prosecutors said Norris applied for commercial loans totaling more than $192,000 at Town Country National Bank between November 2017 and June 2020.
He said some of the loan money would go toward operating costs associated with the sheriff’s office, but instead used it to pay “overdrawn personal accounts, gambling expenses, and other personal expenses,” according to the indictment.
On another occasion, prosecutors accused Norris of using part of a $75,000 bank loan intended to purchase rental equipment to make payments on $25,000 worth of personal loans taken out by him and his wife at the same bank, prosecutors said.
“He’d done business with this bank for a long time, knew the banker, knew the president of the bank and got a little careless with some of the paperwork,” Norris’ attorney, Gordon G. Armstrong, told WALA. “But it’s all been paid back. So it’s really a victimless crime at this point.”
McClatchy News reached out to Norris’ attorney for comment Tuesday, Sept. 27, and was awaiting a response.
The ex-sheriff faces up to 30 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a maximum $1 million fine, according to the terms of his plea deal.
It’s unclear if a sentencing date has been set.
Norris resigned from office in June 2021 prior to an impeachment proceeding over claims of corruption and “crimes involving moral turpitude,” AL.com reported. The state dropped the case after he stepped down.
Clarke County is about 80 miles north of Mobile.
This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Ex-sheriff took out bank loans for business – but paid gambling debts instead, feds say."