Two Idaho Men Sentenced for Insurance Fraud
BOISE, Idaho – Two Idaho men have been sentenced for insurance fraud.
Michael T. Wilson, 48, and 39-year-old Jason L. Knabe, both of Lewiston, were sentenced on Wednesday in unrelated cases.
Wilson pleaded guilty to one count of Insurance Fraud in May, according to Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. Knabe pleaded guilty to one count of Insurance Fraud in April.
Second District Court Judge Jay Gaskill sentenced Wilson to a unified sentence of three years, which was then suspended in favor of three years probation, a news release from Wasden’s office said. Wilson was ordered to serve 40 days in the county jail with 30 days suspended. He also must pay $908 in restitution to the Idaho Department of Insurance to cover investigative costs, and $362 in restitution to GEICO, the insurer he filed a false claim with in June 2015.
In the claim, the news release explains, Wilson reported his car was damaged in a collision with a deer on June 9, 2015. The claim was false, as investigators determined Wilson had damaged his car in an accident on June 3, two days before his GEICO policy took effect.
Knabe filed a claim with Farmers Insurance in July 2015, alleging property damage, repair costs and cleanup costs due to water damage in his home. When asked to provide receipts to prove the listed personal items were new and not the previously damaged items, he provided a false receipt, the news release says.
Both cases were prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Jessica Cafferty in the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit.
Source: Idaho General Lawrence Wasden's Office