Less than a week before he was scheduled to stand trial on charges tied to the alleged misuse of the city-issued credit card, former Albert Lea City Manager Jim Norman now faces five additional felony charges on the matter.

His trial, which was scheduled to begin Tuesday, has also been pushed back after a request from his lawyer, Peggy Rockow of Albert Lea.

In Freeborn County District Court on Friday, prosecuting attorney Brenda Miller of the Waseca County Attorney’s Office filed an amended criminal complaint against Norman. The complaint now includes six separate felony charges of permitting false claims against government to cover specific instances where Norman allegedly used the credit card to make personal purchases. Previously, there had only been one of these counts, covering all the reported credit card charges from May 15 through July 15.

He also faces one count of theft with the intent to exercise temporary control, a felony, and one

count of misconduct by a public officer, a gross misdemeanor. Both of these charges were included in the initial criminal complaint.

The new counts include the following alleged charges:

• The purchase of batteries from Walmart with the city-issued credit card on May 28, 2010.

• The purchase of feminine hygiene products from Shopko on May 30, 2010.

• The purchase of an aquarium, trail mix and cat litter from Walmart on May 30, 2010.

• The purchase of a refrigerator from Home Depot on June 1, 2010.

• The purchase of women’s shoes from Herberger’s on June 1, 2010.

• The purchase of home garbage disposal services.

Before Freeborn County District Court Judge John A. Chesterman approved the new charges, Rockow asked Chesterman to refuse filing the charges, as they were coming just days before the trial was scheduled.

“This is clearly not a housekeeping amendment,” Rockow said, noting that the offenses could have been added several months ago. She said she would need additional time to prepare for trial if they were added.

She said she received the new charges via fax just before 5 p.m. Thursday.

She also added that she believes in the innocence of her client and asked if it was a tactic to delay the trial.

Miller, who is handling the case for Freeborn County, said state statutes allow prosecutors to amend criminal complaints at pre-trial hearings and even during the trial if new testimony arises.

She said it was not a delay tactic to add the additional charges but that she decided to do so as she was preparing for trial and going through the evidence more in-depth.

Miller noted she could have charged more than 50 counts for each individual charge Norman allegedly made but did not because she thought it would be too confusing for a jury.

Chesterman said he thought the new charges would be simpler for a jury to understand and signed off on the amended complaint.

He apologized to Norman for the inconvenience this might have caused him, noting that he understood that Norman cannot move on with his life until this is finished.

Rockow said Norman cannot apply for new jobs while this is hanging over his head.

“This is holding up his entire future,” she said.

Norman, 57, started full time as city manager in Albert Lea on May 3 but was placed on administrative leave Aug. 27 after the initial charges were filed. He resigned as city manager in September as part of a separation agreement between him and the City Council, which resulted from the pending litigations.