Bodybuilding sheriff's lieutenant pleads no contest to workers comp fraud

[TexasTowelie]

A former Santa Clara County Sheriff’s lieutenant charged with feigning injuries to claim disability benefits, while actually doing bodybuilding training, has pleaded no contest to a felony but will not serve any jail time, under an agreement reached with prosecutors.

Mandy Henderson, 41, of Las Vegas, pleaded no contest July 22 to a single count of making a false or fraudulent claim or statement, a felony violation of the state insurance code. The District Attorney’s Office dropped a felony charge of failing to disclose information affecting her entitlement to insurance benefits she was seeking and receiving.

Henderson was sentenced to six months of house arrest with electronic monitoring, with limited exceptions for child care and grocery shopping, according to prosecutors and court records. She was ordered to pay restitution for any erroneous benefits she received before her Dec. 26 arrest, and was given three years of probation.

The felony conviction effectively ends Henderson’s police career, as she is now subject to a lifetime ban from possessing firearms or ammunition. Henderson resigned from the Sheriff’s Office after she was charged.

Read more: https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/07/26/bodybuilding-sheriffs-lieutenant-pleads-no-contest-to-workers-comp-fraud/
(San Jose Mercury News)

[soryang]

1. All well and good

Sometimes I wish every time an insurance company cheated an employee out of their worker's comp benefits, it would get reported in a newspaper. But they have a team of lawyers on call to sue anyone for years on end who disputes anything they say.

I suspect California is better than most states. Right to work states have lousy workers comp laws written by insurance lobbyists that penalize the worker with financial penalties if they can't prove their claim. Many people can't take that risk and either settle for pennies or give up.