Idaho Woman Sentenced for Insurance Fraud

(KLIX) – A woman from Canyon County has been sentenced for insurance fraud.

Andrea M. Archuleta, 36, of Caldwell pleaded guilty to one count on May 30 and was sentenced on Monday, according to Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden.

Third District Court Judge Tom Whitney withheld judgment and placed Archuleta on unsupervised probation for three years, according to a news release from Wasden’s office. She was ordered to complete seven days in the county’s inmate labor program by April 30, 2020. The court also ordered her to pay $281 in restitution to the Idaho Department of Insurance and $234 to GEICO.

Investigators determined that in July 2015, Archuleta backed her vehicle into a concrete barrier. She did not have insurance at the time, but purchased a GEICO policy soon after the accident. She then filed a claim on the new policy and, in the process, told GEICO the accident had occurred after she'd bought the insurance.

Prosecutors initiated the case against Archuleta in September 2016, according to the news release. Archuleta was living out of state at the time and the warrant for her arrest wasn’t served until late 2018.