An elected Orange County Superior Court judge made his first appearance as a defendant in a federal courtroom on Monday morning, Jan. 12, hours before he is scheduled to return to court to plead guilty to his role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud a state workers\u2019 compensation program.<\/p>\n
Israel Claustro, a 50-year-old former county prosecutor, has already agreed to resign from his position as a judge after signing a plea deal<\/a> admitting to one count of mail fraud.<\/p>\n Claustro, during a brief Monday hearing before Magistrate Judge Douglas F. McCormick, was ordered released on his own recognizance and formally pleaded not guilty. It was a procedural, and almost certainly temporary, move: Claustro is expected to formally enter a guilty plea during an afternoon hearing before U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you understand what the government alleges you did?\u201d McCormick asked Claustro.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I do,\u201d Claustro said.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s attorneys, in a previous statement wrote that Claustro \u201cdeeply regretted\u201d taking part in the business venture that led to the federal fraud charges.<\/p>\n Federal prosecutors are recommending Claustro serve time in home confinement, rather than prison, along with probation. The charge itself carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. The judge will ultimately decide Claustro\u2019s sentence.<\/p>\n A federal investigation and subsequent charges marked an abrupt fall for Claustro, an experienced trial attorney in the Orange County District Attorney\u2019s Office before successfully campaigning for a judicial seat.<\/p>\n Claustro, during his judicial campaign, spoke about growing up poor in Pomona. Since his 2022 judicial election, Claustro has served in family court. He submitted his letter of resignation to the Orange County Superior Court on Jan. 7, officials said, after having been on leave since Jan. 1.<\/p>\n As part of his plea deal, Claustro admitted to operating Liberty Medical Group, a Rancho Cucamonga-based medical corporation.<\/p>\n Among the medical group\u2019s employees was Dr. Kevin Tien Do, a physician with a practice in Tustin. Do, previously served a year in federal prison for a 2003 felony healthcare-fraud conviction.<\/p>\n The fraud Claustro and Do admitted to taking part in centered around the Workers\u2019 Compensation Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund, a state program meant to help injured workers.<\/p>\n Claustro violated a law requiring that a medical company such as Liberty Medical Group be run by a physician or other medical professional. He was a deputy district attorney at the time. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has confirmed that Claustro also violated his office\u2019s policy requiring approval for outside employment, a safeguard against conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n Dr. Do, due to his previous conviction, was barred from evaluating applicants to the state workers\u2019 comp fund.<\/p>\n Claustro, in his plea deal, admits he continued to use Do to author medical evaluations, which were submitted to the fund under the names of other doctors.<\/p>\n The state sent more than $3 million to Liberty Medical Group, according to the plea deal. Do was paid $306,000. Another $1.5 million was moved to a management company owned by Claustro. It is unclear where the rest of the money went, or if any of it was used on legitimate medical claims.<\/p>\n