Jessica Epler, formerly of Spokane, Washington, has pleaded guilty in Spokane County Superior Court to one count of filing a false insurance claim, a felony, in connection with a $4,000 diamond ring claim.
Epler was sentenced to 45 days in jail for time already served and ordered to pay $600 in court costs.
Officials charged Epler in August 2018 after an investigation by Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler's Criminal Investigations Unit (“CIU”).
She failed to appear in court and was on Commissioner Kreidler's insurance fraud most wanted list from September 2018 until she was arrested in Leesport, Pennsylania, during a traffic stop in March 2019. She was extradited to Washington state to face the charges against her.
According to Commissioner Kreidler's investigation, Epler added a diamond ring valued at $4,000 to her fiancé renter's insurance policy in August 2016. She filed a mysterious disappearance claim with the insurer, Liberty Mutual, on October 2, 2016.
At the time of her claim, Epler was an employee of Liberty Mutual.
She told the insurer she put the ring in her purse while she was out with friends and her purse went missing. Investigators found records showing that Epler sold the ring to a Spokane pawn shop on September 26, 2016.
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].