‘Jeopardy!’ contestant was accused of overbilling Miami airport, but then the charges were dropped

An insurance broker from Fort Lauderdale will appear on “Jeopardy!” tomorrow, but one bit of trivia probably won’t come up.

It’s the theft allegations against him four years ago.

Ian Norris’ company was accused of overbilling for insurance at Miami International Airport. Although he was charged in January 2015, the charges were dropped and the case was sealed after he agreed to pay $300,000 in a settlement.

Reached by phone Monday, Norris stressed that he did nothing wrong. “There was no admission of guilt. There’s no guilt to be found," he said.

He said he never mentioned the case to “Jeopardy!” producers because prosecutors dropped the case. Since the show is filmed in advance, the revelations will have no bearing on Norris’ appearance.

According to court documents, Norris’ insurance company, Sabal, was providing workers’ compensation and general liability insurance to Quality Aircraft Services, an airport contractor.

The Miami Dade Aviation Authority, which runs the airport, was paying for the policies but suspected Sabal was overcharging.

A 30-month investigation by the Miami-Dade inspector general concluded that Norris and Sabal overcharged by $400,000. Norris was arrested and charged with five counts of grand theft, accused of creating invoices with inflated premiums.

Almost a year later, prosecutors dropped the charges and settled with Norris and Sabal. Norris and his company agreed to pay some $180,000 to the Miami Aviation Department, $100,000 toward a victims’ fund and $20,000 for the cost of the investigation.

Although details of the case have been expunged in state court, they still appear in a federal lawsuit Norris filed against his corporate liability insurer, Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. Norris wanted the company to cover his legal fees and court costs, but the 11th Circuit U.S Court of Appeals ultimately sided with Philadelphia Indemnity, holding that the insurance policy did not cover “ill gotten gains."

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office declined Tuesday to explain why the theft charges against Norris were dropped, saying the records are sealed. “Jeopardy!” producers did not return calls seeking comment.

Norris maintains that the whole process has been “incredibly damaging," but he believes the settlement with the government was the best outcome. A trial would have meant years of uncertainty and hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal fees, he said.

“At what point do you just say ‘the guy was innocent?’” he asked.

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