Israel Claustro, a former Orange County Superior Court judge was federally charged on January 7 with mail fraud in connection with California’s workers’ compensation SIBTF program. Claustro was charged via information with one count of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, a crime that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Claustro was sentenced on August 27, 2026, to one year of probation and a $5,000 fine. He received no jail time. Prosecutors had recommended probation (with a possible home-confinement condition) rather than prison, citing his resignation from the bench, public consequences, and expected State Bar discipline. The court imposed the probation-and-fine sentence.
He was admitted to the State Bar in December 2001. He reactivated his attorney license in January 2026 and has been listed as practicing with a firm in Menifee. The official profile carries a consumer alert about his federal felony case. The State Bar transmitted the conviction record to State Bar Court on August 6, 2026 (matter 26-C-31050). Full disciplinary proceedings that could result in suspension or disbarment are pending; he has not been disbarred as of the latest records.
According to the plea agreement, Claustro – who was an Orange County prosecutor at the time of the fraud – operated Liberty Medical Group Inc., a Rancho Cucamonga-based medical corporation, despite being neither a physician nor a medical professional as required under California law.
One of Liberty’s employees was Dr. Kevin Tien Do, 60, of Pasadena, a physician who had served a one-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2003 of felony health care fraud. Because of this conviction, in October 2018, Do was suspended from participating in the California’s workers’ compensation program. Claustro was aware of Do’s prior criminal conviction and suspension from California’s workers’ compensation program.
According to the plea agreement, Claustro admitted that he defrauded California’s Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (SIBTF), a special fund administered by California’s workers’ compensation program to provide additional compensation to injured workers who already had a disability or impairment at the time of a subsequent injury.
Specifically, Claustro paid Do more than $300,000 for preparing medical evaluations, medical record reviews, and med-legal reports after Do’s suspension. Claustro caused Liberty to mail these reports to California’s SIBTF, concealing that they were prepared by Do by listing other doctors’ names on the billing forms and reports. Based on these fraudulent submitted reports, Liberty received hundreds of thousands of dollars from SIBTF.
The loss amount from Claustro’s participation in this scheme is approximately $38,670 – the amount SIBTF paid to Liberty based on reports Claustro knew Do had drafted after his suspension from SIBTF.
The Probation Office provided an advisory sentencing guideline range of 4 to 10 months’ imprisonment. According to the August 13, 2026 Government Response to the Presentence Report prosecutors said that “Consistent with the Plea Agreement, the government requests a one-level downward variance to reflect defendant’s early acceptance of responsibility, demonstrated by his immediate resignation from his position as an Orange County Judge and his agreement to a preindictment resolution.“
In connection with this scheme, Do pleaded guilty in January 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return. His sentencing is scheduled for September 15, 2026, before U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb (the same judge who sentenced Claustro). Earlier dates were continued multiple times.