Photo: J. Albert Diaz

A 16-year employee of the Miami-Dade clerk's office was charged with pocketing cash paid to resolve traffic tickets, prosecutors said Thursday.

Norris Kimble, 39, who has left the office, faces charges of forgery, theft, fraud and official misconduct.

The investigation began in 2018 after four people went to court in the Hialeah misdemeanor traffic division, paid cash for their citations and discovered their cases had not been closed.

Kimble was accused of taking their cash, recording fake transactions in the clerk's database, altering court records to hide his theft and taking a portion of the cash. Investigators said they traced Kimble to the loss of $1,809.

The state attorney's office and inspector general's office combined on the probe.

"The lesson of Norris Kimble is simple; if you steal from the people of Dade County, you will pay a price, whether it is the loss of your reputation, the loss of your profession, a loss of your very freedom or all three. We all take this mission of ridding our government of corruption very, very seriously," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

Inspector General Mary T. Cagle called corruption cases "disturbing and disheartening"  but found this one more troubling because it "jeopardized the integrity of the clerk's office and the court system."

The clerk's office criminal records listed Kimble as a defendant Thursday, but the case had no files or defense attorney information.