SACRAMENTO – On December 15, 2016, a Sacramento jury convicted Deborah Ann Carter of three felony insurance fraud charges following an investigation by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Urban Auto Fraud Unit.

On July 7, 2014, a volunteer worker for an alcohol and drug recovery facility accidentally backed the facility’s minivan into a parked car at a slow rate of speed, causing minor damage to both vehicles.  The car was occupied solely by Carter’s husband, Louis Hudson.  Later that day, Carter directed her niece to call the facility’s auto insurance and report that both Carter and Hudson were in the sedan when the accident occurred.  Both Carter and Hudson claimed they had been injured in the accident.

“Insurance investigators have demonstrated time and again, their ability to expose, investigate, and assist in the prosecution of insurance fraud,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.   “Insurance fraud costs all of us money in higher premiums.”

CDI investigated Carter’s insurance claim and interviewed two witnesses. Both witnesses said only Hudson was in the sedan at the time of the accident, and that they saw Carter come out of a nearby building screaming after the collision.

Louis Hudson previously pled no contest to a misdemeanor auto insurance fraud charge. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and placed on three years of probation.

In a separate proceeding, another jury convicted Carter of felony failure to appear and found true the allegation that she committed a felony within 5 years of a prior prison term.

Carter faces a maximum sentence of 8 years in prison.  Sentencing is set for January 13, 2017.