Menu Close

A former Santa Clara County sheriff’s correctional deputy was sentenced this week for a false workers’ compensation claim filed last year.

Mark Samuel Navarrete, 40, of San Jose, was sentenced to 120 days in county jail, but can serve the time out of custody through electronic monitoring, his defense attorney Patrick Valencia said. Navarrete was also ordered to pay about $22,880 in restitution for the workers’ compensation he had received.

Navarrete originally pleaded not guilty to a felony count of making and presenting a false or fraudulent statement in support of a workers’ compensation claim. However last month, Navarrete changed his plea to no contest.

The former deputy was injured during a softball game on July 14 while off-duty at Twin Creeks Sports Complex in Sunnyvale and later took himself to an emergency room for pain to his left bicep, according to authorities. However Navarrete underwent surgery through the county and claimed he was injured while closing a filing cabinet at work..

Navarrete’s co-worker who knew the injury took place outside the workplace informed a supervisor, which led to an investigation into the claim. Investigators obtained hospital records, text messages and video from the sports complex that recorded the game.

His lawyer reported that Navarrete now understands the mistake he made, but it was “unfortunate” that he lost his job over the matter. Navarrete had worked with the sheriff’s office for 12 years and resigned soon after his arrest. His lawyer also called the sentence “lenient” and believed the judge would have even given a lighter punishment if there were not other issues surrounding violence at the county jail which has placed this case in the spotlight.

The Navarrete case predates the investigation into the deadly Aug. 26 beating of Michael Tyree at the Main Jail, which spurred murder charges against three other correctional deputies and prompted elected officials to promise a host of reforms of the county’s jail facilities, with pointed attention at misconduct by jail staffers.