CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Four defendants were sentenced Monday in Contra Costa County Superior Court in an insurance fraud case that included submitting fraudulent auto insurance claims in excess of $100,000 to insurance companies using multiple vehicles and stolen identities, prosecutors said.
Cornelius Salmer pleaded no contest to three felony counts of filing a false insurance claim and three felony counts of identity theft.
Judge David Goldstein sentenced Salmer to three years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution of $63,000, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office.
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Benisha Seldon and Antoinette Green pleaded no contest to filing a false insurance claim and identity theft, both felonies. Seldon and Green were sentenced to three years of formal probation and 180 days of jail.
Seldon was ordered to pay $33,000 in restitution and Green was ordered to pay $19,000, prosecutors said.
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Jonnie Gilbert pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property and was sentenced to two years of probation, 30 days in jail, and was ordered to pay $2,450 in restitution.
The California Department of Insurance, the California Highway Patrol and the district attorney's office began investigating the case following a referral from National Insurance Crime Bureau analysts, prosecutors said.
— Bay City News
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