Former ISP superintendent claims Braun admin might have quashed investigation

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Former Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said he believes someone close to the governor might have moved to block an investigation into a political ally.

Carter told News 8 the State Board of Accounts alerted ISP to possible misuse of the Dubois County Jail commissary fund in July of 2024. The SBOA found evidence which suggested Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter had used the fund to purchase airline tickets for himself and his wife and grills for employees. Carter assigned a detective to the case. After he said the detective did nothing with the case for about six weeks, he replaced that investigator with Lt. Jeff Hearon, a veteran ISP detective who led some of the agency’s highest-profile investigations, including the one into former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel.

Court documents obtained by News 8 show Hearon seized Kleinhelter’s computer and cell phone. He found evidence supporting the SBOA’s findings, including airline tickets to Dubai for the World Police Summit. Hearon also seized bank records further supporting the case, including evidence Kleinhelter had reimbursed the jail commissary fund out of his own pocket.

“There was an 84-page probable cause affidavit that was prepared that was full of facts, not opinions. It was all objective facts that could be proven,” Carter said. “And it was such a document that I’d never seen anything like it before. Ten search warrants, an enormous amount of work that Jeff Hearon did. Airline records, credit card records, bank records, phones and computer data.”

By then, Mike Braun had been elected governor. Kleinhelter was an early supporter of Braun, who is from Dubois County. Due to the politically sensitive nature of the case, Carter called Braun’s chief of staff, Josh Kelley, shortly after the election to alert him about the case.

“It was a short, direct, to the point, cordial enough, he indicated he was appreciative of me giving him a call letting him know and he would make sure to let the governor-elect know and the call essentially ended,” Carter told News 8. “After that phone call is when a lot of this slowed down.”

Carter said there was a meeting in February among Kleinhelter, the original detective and Orange County Prosecutor Holly Hudelson, who was the special prosecutor in the case. Hudelson chose not to file charges. On April 6, Kleinhelter posted on Facebook, “Since the onset of this investigation, I have consistently maintained my innocence, asserting that I have engaged in absolutely no criminal activity. I firmly stand by this position, which is supported by the findings of the special prosecutor.”

Kleinhelter’s office turned down News 8’s request for further comment.

After that, Carter said Hearon was subjected to an internal disciplinary action and suspended for two days. He also was reassigned and barred from instructing upcoming troopers.

“I think there’s about a 100% probability that there was some level of intervention. I don’t know where it was,” he said. “Logically, it would seem that it was someone in the orbit of Mike Braun.”

Asked further if he believed the governor, a member of his staff or the current ISP superintendent directed the investigation be stopped, Carter replied, “It was somewhere between all of those. If it happened, it would be nowhere else other than in those groups. I’d like to think that it never happened, but again, I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire career.”

Carter did not provide any written evidence to support his claim. The Indiana State Police confirmed to News 8 they transmitted a probable cause affidavit to Hudelson, who then declined to file charges. They referred all other inquiries to her office.

Hudelson told News 8 she never talked to any member of the Braun administration and nobody pressured her to drop the investigation. She said she decided not to file charges because specific elements of a crime were not present, particularly surrounding intent. As for why the pace of the investigation slowed after the election, Hudelson said her office was dealing with the shooting of an Orange County deputy and preparing for a January murder trial, so its resources were stretched thin during that time.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office also denied anyone from the administration pressured Hudelson not to file charges.

“The special prosecutor has already made it clear that our office had no involvement. It’s a sad day when the former State Police superintendent resorts to lies in a desperate attempt to smear our brave men and women in blue.”
Spokesperson for Gov. Mike Braun

Carter provided News 8 with a copy of an email Hearon wrote to Hudelson in February concerning her decision to meet with Kleinhelter and the original investigator without consulting him.

Carter said Hearon was accused of being disrespectful and inappropriate as a result of that email.

“I think it poses a significant threat to every trooper in Indiana,” he said. “If that’s how they’re going to judge how we treat people and talk to people, it’s a very, very dangerous, dangerous place to be.”

Although the criminal probe into Kleinhelter has been concluded without charges filed, the Law Enforcement Training Board voted on Monday to refer Kleinhelter to the board’s subcommittee on decertification. Board officials confirmed to News 8 Wednesday the subcommittee will review the accusations against Kleinhelter and make a recommendation, after which the board will vote on whether to decertify him as a law enforcement officer. Board officials said their probe could take months and there is no timeline for when they might make a decision.

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