News: 2007 Press Release

SACRAMENTO - Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner today announced that James Sepeda, 33, a former insurance agent from Penn Valley, was convicted of one felony count of insurance fraud and three misdemeanor counts of petty theft.

The conviction resulted from an investigation conducted by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Investigation Division. According to investigators, Sepeda misappropriated over $44,000 in insurance premiums between December 2004 and April 2006. As part of the plea agreement, Sepeda was placed on five years supervised probation, sentenced to 120 days in jail, 300 hours of community service, and ordered to pay victim restitution that will be determined at a later date.

"Mr. Sepeda broke the law, violated the trust of his clients and left them vulnerable to financial ruin," said Commissioner Poizner. "My Department will aggressively pursue those who seek to defraud Californians and they will be held accountable."

Sepeda owned and operated Buttes Insurance Agency located in Penn Valley. According to CDI investigators, Sepeda collected insurance premiums from clients for commercial general liability and commercial automobile insurance and failed to remit the premiums to insurers. All of the victims believed they were insured when in reality they had no coverage. Buttes Insurance Agency is now under new ownership.

The case was prosecuted by the Nevada County District Attorney's Office. Sepeda was sentenced on March 5, 2007.