The allure of living the high-life in Orange County drives a JUDGE to commit crime on a scale that should scare most tax payers. Business owners should be throwing up reading this! Imagine paying into this program and having a public official defrauding the state fund! Jail isn’t enough people, make an example of him! As a judge he make have heard cases they lead to his profiting specifically! Outrageous!
Orange County judge steps down, pleads guilty in workers’ comp fraud
An elected Orange County Superior Court judge pleaded guilty on Monday, Jan. 12, to his role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud a state workers’ compensation program.
Israel Claustro, a 50-year-old former county prosecutor, agreed to resign from his position as a judge after signing a plea deal admitting to one count of mail fraud.
Claustro, during a brief Monday hearing before Magistrate Judge Douglas F. McCormick at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, made his first appearance as a criminal defendant before being ordered released on his own recognizance.
“Do you understand what the government alleges you did?” McCormick asked Claustro.
“Yes, I do,” Claustro said.
Claustro, sitting between his two defense attorneys, briefly responded to questions from McCormick. Neither he nor his attorneys spoke directly about the allegations. Paul Meyer, one of Claustro’s attorneys, in a statement wrote that Claustro “deeply regretted” taking part in the business venture that led to the federal fraud charges.
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