Secretary of state nominee Max Engling takes $50,000 from convicted felon

Indiana LT Government with Convicted Felon.

INDIANAPOLIS — Max Engling, the Republican nominee for Indiana secretary of state, reported receiving a $50,000 contribution on Sept. 23 from Michael S. Sherfick, a Noblesville developer who pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in 2010 and served time in federal prison, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Indiana Election Division and federal records.

Sherfick, a former Perry Township deputy constable, was sentenced to 14 months in prison after admitting he took more than $30,000 in bribes in exchange for law enforcement badges and credentials, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Hoosier Enquirer confirmed the donor is the same man convicted in the 2010 case. The Mallery Road address Sherfick listed on the campaign report is the same address shown on the website of Sherfick Companies, a Noblesville construction and development firm that names Mike Sherfick as its founder, owner and CEO. WIBC reported in 2025 that the Michael Sherfick who served federal prison time for bribery donated to Secretary of State Diego Morales in 2023 under the name Sherfick Construction, and the Justice Department described the man it prosecuted as a Noblesville resident.

The secretary of state is Indiana's chief election official. The contribution raises questions the Engling campaign has not publicly answered: whether Engling knew of Sherfick's criminal record, what, if anything, Sherfick expects in return, and whether the campaign will keep the money. The Hoosier Enquirer has found no evidence that Sherfick sought or was promised anything, and is not alleging the contribution violates state law.

The filing

The Supplemental Large Contribution Report, State Form CFA-11, was filed online at 9:14 p.m. Sept. 23. It lists three contributions received that day: $50,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee–Indiana, based in Washington, D.C.; $50,000 from Sherfick, who listed his occupation as "Construction/Engineering" and an address on Mallery Road in Noblesville; and $10,000 from Brian S. Furrer of Reynolds, who listed agriculture as his occupation.

The supplemental large-contribution report Max Engling's campaign committee filed with the Indiana Election Division on Sept. 23, 2026, lists a $50,000 contribution from Michael S. Sherfick. Highlighting added by the Hoosier Enquirer.

The Election Division's online database, which lists Engling's committee as Max for Indiana, also shows the Sherfick contribution. Other large contributions to the committee this month include two $50,000 entries from Timothy J. Dement of Carmel on Sept. 23 and a $1 million in-kind contribution from the Indiana Republican State Committee on Sept. 9.

The federal record

According to the Justice Department, Michael S. Sherfick pleaded guilty on April 21, 2010, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. U.S. District Judge William T. Lawrence sentenced him that day to 14 months in prison and three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $35,750 fine. The department described him at the time as 37 and a resident of Noblesville.

Sherfick admitted that from June 2005 until he was fired in September 2007, he used his position with the Perry Township Constable's Office to accept more than $30,000 in bribes in exchange for deputy constable badges, identification cards and parking placards, the department said. Its Public Integrity Section told Congress that Sherfick also admitted instructing buyers to lie to investigators and a grand jury.

Federal law classifies offenses punishable by more than a year in prison as felonies; Sherfick was sentenced to 14 months.

In May 2013, after Sherfick admitted violating the terms of his release, including an altercation with a man repossessing his vehicle, Lawrence revoked his supervised release and ordered him to serve nine more months in federal custody, court records show.

WIBC reported in June 2025 that Sherfick took a plea deal in 2014 in a separate case involving arson and insurance fraud. The Hoosier Enquirer has not been able to locate court records for that case, and its charges and outcome could not be independently confirmed.

The Pacers game

Sherfick drew public attention in June 2025, when a report first shared by the outlet Indy Reporter said Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and Secretary of State Diego Morales attended a Pacers game with him, WIBC reported. WIBC also reported that Sherfick owns Subspace Indy, a downtown Indianapolis venue it said is listed online as hosting BDSM, swinger and drag events.

"I didn't know anything about this man's criminal background," Beckwith told WIBC in a written statement. "Outside of being invited to the game, I've never received anything from him nor have I hung out with him in any other capacity."

In addition to the 2023 donation WIBC reported, the state campaign finance database shows a $2,000 contribution from Sherfick Companies Inc. of Noblesville to Morales' committee, Diego for Indiana, dated Dec. 31, 2024.

The race

Engling won the Republican nomination on the second ballot at the party's state convention in Fort Wayne on June 20, receiving 867 votes, or 53%, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. Knox County Clerk David Shelton received 627 votes, and Morales, the incumbent, finished third with 134.

Engling, who worked for U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, entered the race in May as Banks and Attorney General Todd Rokita withdrew their endorsements of Morales, Indiana Public Radio and the Capital Chronicle reported. He faces Democrat Beau Bayh and Libertarian Lauri Shillings on Nov. 3.

The campaign has returned a large contribution before. In July, it said it had refunded $60,000 from Hoosier Leadership for America, a nonprofit associated with Banks, after the donation was flagged in an internal review and drew a complaint to state election officials, the Capital Chronicle reported.

As of Sept. 24, the Hoosier Enquirer found no public statement from the Engling campaign or from Sherfick about the contribution.

The Hoosier Enquirer contacted the Engling campaign today to ask whether Engling knew of Sherfick's criminal history before accepting the contribution, why Sherfick gave, and whether the campaign will keep or return it back. The Engling campaign did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.