Former Oklahoma Police Officer Gets Prison for Auto Insurance Fraud

A former police officer has been sentenced to serve 10 days of weekend imprisonment and three years of supervised probation in an auto insurance fraud case, according to Sanford C. Coats, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Clinton Ivan Rutledge, Woodward, Okla., also was ordered to pay $21,163.63 in restitution to Farmers Insurance Group and serve 104 hours of community service.

The U.S. Attorney’s office reported that on Oct. 10, 2013, a federal grand jury indicted Rutledge and Christopher Dean Noreuil, also from Woodward, charging them with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Specifically, it was alleged that in January 2013, Rutledge asked Noreuil to take and hide Rutledge’s 2004 Ford F-250 pickup truck and 1999 TexMex flatbed trailer to make it appear that the truck and trailer had been stolen.

Rutledge then reported the truck and trailer as stolen to the police and filed a false and fraudulent insurance claim with his insurer, Farmers Insurance Group. As a result, Farmers Insurance paid out more than $21,000 on the false claim.

Rutledge is a former Woodward Police Department officer and a former reserve deputy for the Woodward County Sheriff’s Office.

On October 20, 2013, Rutledge pled guilty on Oct. 20, 2013, to knowingly conspiring with others to commit mail fraud. Noreuil pled guilty on Nov. 19, 2013, and is awaiting sentencing.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Maxfield Green.

Source: U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma