A former San Mateo County sheriff’s deputy who collected more than $61,000 in workers’ compensation benefits for an elbow injury has been sentenced to five months in county jail. Surveillance video showed him lifting, driving, and working out hard at the gym. Jorden Tuiveta Faatiga, 35, of Patterson, was sentenced on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, as reported by KRON4 and by Bay City News in the Redwood City Pulse.
Faatiga pleaded no contest on April 30 to felony charges of workers’ compensation fraud and filing a false document. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Jackson placed him on two years of supervised probation, conditioned on serving five months in the county jail. He was also ordered to pay $61,534.02 in restitution to the County of San Mateo. According to KRON4, the District Attorney’s Office said he has already repaid $40,000 of that amount. Faatiga remains out of custody and has been ordered to surrender at the county jail on January 9, 2027.
According to the prosecutors’ account, the case began in October 2024, when Faatiga reported an on-duty injury to his right elbow and filed a workers’ compensation claim. He then worked in a modified-duty assignment through February 2025 while receiving benefits. Investigators from the District Attorney’s Workers’ Compensation Fraud Unit reviewed surveillance video that, prosecutors said, showed him using the supposedly injured elbow in ways that contradicted the restrictions he had described to his treating physician. The activities included lifting, driving, and intense gym workouts. Prosecutors also said he regularly misrepresented his symptoms to doctors in order to keep receiving benefits.
The conviction also ended Faatiga’s law enforcement career. The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) disqualified his peace officer certification in August 2026. That makes him ineligible to serve as a peace officer anywhere in California, according to KRON4 and the Redwood City Pulse.
The case drew wide attention when the plea was first announced. The National Insurance Crime Bureau highlighted it in its regional news roundup, citing earlier reporting by KTVU. The same Bay City News account of the sentencing also ran in The Almanac.
For public employers and claims administrators, the case is a familiar pattern with a notable twist. Surveillance that contradicts reported work restrictions is a common basis for claimant fraud prosecutions. Here, though, the claimant kept working in a modified role and still faced felony charges, apparently based on how he described his condition to his doctors. The case also shows the collateral consequences a fraud conviction can carry for public safety employees: apart from jail and restitution, Faatiga lost his peace officer certification.
All descriptions of Faatiga’s conduct come from the District Attorney’s Office as relayed in news coverage. His defense attorney was not available for comment, according to the Redwood City Pulse. The District Attorney’s original announcement could not be located on the office’s website, so this account relies on news outlets that reported from it. The sources do not specify the exact statutes charged.