$80,000 insurance fraud claim lands Washington state man in hot water

A Washington state man has pleaded guilty to one count of insurance fraud after he filed an $80,000 insurance claim in response to a 2024 car collision.

Jeremy Joshua Antone, 55, of Ford, Washington, who wasn’t injured in the crash, now owes $24,248 to the state of Idaho, according to an Idaho Department of Insurance news release.

Antone pleaded guilty to the charge on May 12 in Kootenai County. Antone was sentenced on July 14 to five years in prison, which was then suspended “in lieu” of five years of supervised probation. According to the Idaho Department of Correction, his probation ends July 13, 2031.

Antone filed an injury claim with Sentry Insurance Company after the car collision, when he alleged the impact caused all of his teeth to be knocked out and required $80,000 in dental work. But a DOI Fraud Unit investigation found Antone didn’t suffer any injuries, and instead, those injuries were preexisting.

There is no information from DOI about when the car collision occurred, but online court records show his case was started Oct. 30, 2024. The Idaho Press reached out to DOI and to Sentry Insurance for comment on the case, but did not hear anything further by press time.

Dean L. Cameron, director of Idaho DOI, spoke about how insurance fraud “harms Idaho consumers by driving up premiums and eroding trust in the system.”

“This case demonstrates our continued commitment to investigating fraudulent claims and holding individuals accountable when they attempt to misuse the insurance process,” Cameron said.

The Idaho DOI encourages anyone who suspects insurance fraud to report it at doi.idaho.gov, or by calling the insurance fraud hotline at 866-939-7226.