An Orange County Superior Court judge and former local prosecutor has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge after federal prosecutors accused him of working with a doctor in a multi-million-dollar California workers’ compensation fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
Israel Claustro has agreed to resign from his position as a judge by Monday, Jan. 12, after signing a plea deal admitting to one count of mail fraud, federal prosecutors said.
Claustro, as part of his plea deal, admitted to operating Liberty Medical Group, which prosecutors described as a Rancho Cucamonga-based medical corporation, despite not being either a physician or a medical professional, a requirement under state law.
Prosecutors are recommending that Claustro serve time in home confinement, rather than prison, along with probation.
Paul Meyer, Claustro’s attorney, wrote in a statement that the judge “deeply regrets his wrongful 2022 participation in a business venture that did not involve any part of his work as a district attorney and ended before he became a judge. …
“He takes full responsibility for his actions and cooperated fully in the investigation,” Meyer wrote. “In good faith, with sadness, he is voluntarily resigning his judicial office.”
Among Liberty Medical Group’s employees was Dr. Kevin Tien Do, an internal medicine physician with a practice in Tustin who previously served a year in federal prison for a 2003 felony healthcare fraud conviction. Claustro was aware of that conviction, prosecutors said, which meant Do was suspended from participating in the state workers’ compensation program.
Federal prosecutors estimated that Claustro’s part in the scheme led to a loss of $38,670 in state workers compensation funds.
Regarding this scheme, Dr. Do previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and filing a false tax return. At the time, federal prosecutors indicated he had conspired with a former prosecutor and current judge.
An investigation by the Southern California News Group identified that jurist in December 2024 as Claustro. Federal prosecutors didn’t name him until the announcement of his plea deal on Wednesday.
Claustro was appointed to the bench in 2022 and assigned to family court at the Orange County Superior Courthouse in Santa Ana.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.