Crime & Safety
Murrieta Man Sentenced For Insurance Fraud
Michael Amzie Holley, who owned Orange County-based So Cal Roofing, was sentenced to a year in jail Friday for failing to pay workers' compensation insurance.
A 43-year-old Murrieta man who failed to pay more than $500,000 in workers' compensation insurance for his Orange County-based roofing contracting business was sentenced today to a year in jail.
Michael Amzie Holley pleaded guilty on Feb. 26, 2010, to more than a dozen felony counts in the insurance fraud scheme, but had his sentencing put off six times so he could pay back some of the money he stole.
So far, Holley has paid back $120,000, Deputy District Attorney Debbie Jackson said.
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Holley could have faced up to 21 years and eight months in state prison had he been convicted at trial. Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue offered to keep the punishment at three years maximum in exchange for the guilty plea and a pledge to pay back the money.
Holley will stay overnight in a city jail, but will be free during the day to go to his construction job so he can keep making restitution payments, Jackson said. Holley's wages will be garnished, the prosecutor added.
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Jackson and Holley's attorney, Ronald Cordova, will work out how much more money the defendant will pay back, the prosecutor said.
The $120,000 has gone to the state Employment Development Department, which was defrauded out of $188,264, Jackson said. Holley defrauded the State Compensation Insurance Fund out of $322,619.82, for a total of $510,883.82, Jackson said.
Holley—who owned So Cal Roofing—acquired a minimum amount of workers' compensation insurance from the state, but failed to declare that he hired subconstractors and paid some workers in cash.
He also hired employees who were unlicensed, leased workers from other companies, shaved costs on insurance with inaccurate payroll reports to the state and avoided taxes by paying some workers in cash, according to the prosecution.
The fraud was uncovered when a worker fell off a roof at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on March 18, 2003. The man filed a workers' compensation claim, but Holley denied he worked for So Cal Roofing.
Holley lied to the state's Contractor Licensing Board, denying he had employees, on Feb. 24, 2004, and March 2, 2005.
