Ex-CHP officer convicted in Sacramento County workers’ compensation fraud case
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- A former California Highway Patrol officer was convicted of felony insurance fraud.
- Sacramento County prosecutors said he claimed to have suffered an injury on the job.
- Investigators found he was doing heavy work at home while claiming disabling injuries.
A former California Highway Patrol officer on Wednesday was convicted and sentenced to 270 days in county jail and ordered to repay more than $360,000 after pleading guilty to workers’ compensation fraud.
Jordan Lester, 46, appeared Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court and pleaded guilty to felony insurance fraud, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release.
As part of his sentence, Lester was sentenced to two years of probation and must pay $232,829 in restitution to CHP and $127,791 to the State Compensation Insurance Fund, prosecutors said. He will also lose his pension and service credit for the years the fraud occurred.
At the time, Lester was assigned to the CHP’s Central Division, which includes offices in Fresno, Bakersfield, Buttonwillow and the Grapevine commercial vehicle enforcement facility near Fort Tejon.
Prosecutors said that Lester on July 11, 2021, told his supervisors he had been injured on the job, but that injury was deemed not significant. Lester was ordered to return to duty. Around that time, Lester had purchased property in the Quincy area in Plumas County. Lester traveled on his days off to work on his Northern California property.
When his request for a transfer to the Quincy area was denied, Lester began discussing medical retirement with a former CHP officer and offered to pay for assistance in obtaining it, according to the DA’s Office. A tax-free medical retirement would entitle him to 85% of his salary for life.
In January 2022, Lester sought treatment for the injury he had reported nearly six months earlier. Based on his statements to a physician, he was placed on medical leave. He told the doctor that even standing, sitting or doing basic chores caused significant pain, and he was deemed unfit for duty.
In an August 2024 news release announcing Lester’s arrest, CHP officials said the CHP’s Workers’ Compensation Fraud Investigations Unit received an anonymous tip while Lester was not working. That led to the CHP initiating its investigation into Lester.
Prosecutors said the CHP’s internal investigation found that Lester was far exceeding the limitations he claimed to both the CHP and his treating physicians.
While collecting benefits, Lester was seen cutting down trees, stacking firewood, operating heavy machinery and performing other strenuous work on his property, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said an independent medical examiner saw Lester in February 2024 and determined that Lester was able to perform all work duties. The medical examiner also said Lester, a 16-year veteran of the CHP, exaggerated his complaints of pain.
