Former insurance agent sentenced to prison

A former Northfield insurance agent who defrauded clients was sentenced to prison time.

Luis Angel Dominguez Martinez, 26, pleaded guilty to 16 felonies, on counts of theft by swindle, forgery, insurance fraud, credit card fraud.

He received concurrent 25-month prison sentences last week in Rice County District Court.

Offenders currently serve the final third of prison sentences on supervised release, so Dominguez Martinez is likely to be released in October 2025. He could potentially be released sooner under a new, yet-to-be implemented law giving most inmates the opportunity to earn release after serving half of their sentence.

The charges filed against Dominguez Martinez in 2022 said he admitted he faked insurance policies, pocketed premium payments and used payments to pay for other clients' policies. He worked at the American Family insurance agency in Northfield from 2016 through 2020 and worked primarily with Hispanic clients, some of whom were undocumented.

The fraud was discovered after a client reported his policies had been canceled for non-payment. An American Family internal investigation identified 170 customers who had been defrauded, and the company reported over $490,000 in losses, according to a court complaint.