72 year old Carmen Hall Soruco, and her husband 77 year old Antonio Soruco, who both live in Novato, were sentenced last year after pleading guilty to workers’ compensation fraud charges.
Hall was sentenced on multiple felony counts to two years of probation with full search and seizure, 120 days in jail, and ordered to pay over $925,000 in restitution to State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) and Employment Development Department (EDD).
Antonio Soruco was sentenced to one year of probation with full search and seizure, 120 days in jail, and was also ordered to pay over $925,000 in restitution to SCIF and EDD after pleading guilty to multiple misdemeanor charges.
The Department of Insurance investigation revealed Hall and Soruco committed Workers’ Compensation insurance premium fraud by failing to report employees and payroll to SCIF from October 15, 2013 through December 8, 2016, leading to a premium loss of approximately $585,666.
Investigators also discovered Hall and Soruco committed payroll tax evasion by failing to report employees and payroll to California’s EDD from October 15, 2013 through February 6, 2019 which resulted in a payroll tax loss to EDD of approximately $342,405.
As of September 5, 2023, Hall Soruco and her husband, Antonio Soruco, had paid $7,100, Pratt said. Antonio Soruco had been charged and pled guilty to a misdemeanor but is liable with his wife for the restitution.
The law allows a convicted felon to come to court and ask that their charges be reduced to misdemeanors. The court has the discretion to grant or deny the request based upon the underlying facts of the case. Soruco Hall reappeared in court on October 12, 2023, and contended that she had been compliant with the terms of her probation, justifying the reductions.
This October 2023, a Marin County Superior Court judge has denied Halls Soruco’s request to have her 2022 fraud-related convictions reduced from felonies to misdemeanors. The ruling was aligned with recommendations from Marin County District Attorney’s Office prosecutors..
In this instance, Judge Beth S. Jordan agreed with prosecutors and ruled that Hall Soruco’s behavior did not amount to misdemeanor conduct.