A Santa Paula woman who worked for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has pleaded guilty to four felony counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Keri Atwood (DOB 09/24/1984), of Santa Paula, entered guilty pleas to four felony counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud. Michael Atwood (DOB 08/2811976), also of Santa Paula, entered a guilty plea to one felony count of conspiracy to commit workers’ compensation fraud. The case was investigated by the Valencia office of the California Department of Insurance.

Defendant Keri Atwood reported to her supervisors that she sustained an injury to her left ankle. She said the injury occurred when another employee accidentally hit the back of her foot with a mail cart. She was placed on Temporary Total Disability (TTD) status. Over the next several months, Atwood remained on TTD and received over $29,000 in disability pay.

Keri Atwood used crutches or a wheel chair to get to her medical appointments. After her medical appointments, she was seen walking freely without the aid of crutches or a wheel chair. She was also observed engaging in a number of physical activities that she told her treating her physicians she could not perform. Michael Atwood drove Keri Atwood to her doctors’ visits and failed to disclose her true physical condition.