Israel Claustro Censured Removed

Israel Claustro, an Orange County Superior Court judge who had campaigned in part on boosting public trust in the justice system, paid Dr. Kevin Tien Do roughly $300,000 to prepare medical evaluations and reports for California's workers' compensation system — despite Do having been suspended from that system over his own 2003 felony health care fraud conviction. The reports were then submitted bearing the names of other, uninvolved doctors.

Between 2018 and 2022, the state workers' compensation fund paid out more than $3 million on billings tied to reports investigators say Do actually created. Federal prosecutors identified $38,670 in payouts specifically connected to documents Claustro knew carried fraudulent attributions.

Claustro agreed to plead guilty to one count of federal mail fraud and resigned from the bench as part of the deal. He was sentenced to one year of probation and a $5,000 fine. The California Commission on Judicial Performance separately imposed a public censure and a lifetime bar from ever serving as a judicial officer in California again.