Committing Insurance Fraud & Forgery While on Probation Requires Jail Time
Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/gfeBFRAi and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 4150 posts.
Posted on April 22, 2022 by Barry Zalma
Dustin Jungvirt, appealed the sentence imposed following his guilty plea to insurance fraud, claiming the district court failed to properly consider which sentencing option would best rehabilitate him. In State Of Iowa v. Dustin Jungvirt, No. 21-1130, Court of Appeals of Iowa (April 13, 2022) the Iowa Court of Appeals resolved the dispute.
BACKGROUND FACTS
The State charged Jungvirt with insurance fraud, claiming he filed false claims with his insurance carrier. Jungvirt was alleged to have committed the offense while on probation for child endangerment causing bodily injury. The State later added a charge for fraudulent practice. After Jungvirt’s arrest, he was released to the Iowa Department of Corrections for supervision.
In May 2020, Jungvirt was arrested for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. Due to the arrest, the court revoked Jungvirt’s pretrial release. Jungvirt entered a plea agreement on September 11, admitting to the probation violation and pleading guilty to insurance fraud. He also entered a plea of guilty to four counts of forgery in a separate case. As part of the plea agreement, the State agreed to recommend Jungvirt for a residential treatment facility if Jungvirt was deemed appropriate for placement in the facility. If Jungvirt was denied a placement in a residential facility, the State could recommend any legal sentence.
The court received a presentence investigate report (PSI) which recommended probation and placement in a Davenport residential correctional facility (RCF).
Jungvirt failed to appear for sentencing, resulting in the court issuing a bench warrant for his arrest. He was not apprehended until May 2021. Due to his absconding, the RCF would not approve him for placement.
Jungvirt, after being charged with new crime and returning to the court, expressing chutzpah, asked for probation, highlighting as mitigating factors his desire to see family, his limited criminal history, mental-health and substance-abuse issues, and progress he had made toward his education. The State urged the court to impose a prison sentence.
The court sentenced Jungvirt to a prison term of five years for insurance fraud, to run consecutively to the two-year sentence for Jungvirt’s forgery convictions.
DISCUSSION
Jungvirt contended the district court abused its discretion when it sentenced him to a prison term rather than probation. He ignored the reasoning of the sentencing court who, during the sentencing hearing, the court explained its reasoning as follows:
In every case, my duty under the law is to review what is available to me in terms of community resources and to determine what the appropriate rehabilitative plan for you would be, but to always remember first and foremost that the public must be protected.
In doing so, I look at the seriousness of the crimes, the effect the crimes have upon members of the community, your willingness to accept change and treatment, and what’s available within the community to assist you in this process.
The first thing that jumps out at me in looking at the file is that you had a plea agreement for probation. You were at the RCF and something happened and you were out to warrant, then, from October 22nd to May 30th. You knew at that time you pled guilty. You knew you had to take care of these matters and you made no effort to do so, which tells me that you were absconding from your responsibilities and obligations for the crimes you committed.
It’s not completely inconsistent with your criminal history. While these charges are more serious than maybe what you had in the past, you do have a history of failing to appear and a history of violating terms of probation.
I do consider as mitigating any substance abuse or mental health issues that you have.
What’s also concerning to me is that looking at the file, case number 312, you were on probation with a sentencing date of July 19th, 2018, and then comes the insurance fraud case that you’re here on today that happened after that, and it appears while you were on probation . . . .
And then, while you were awaiting trial on pretrial release in that matter, you pick up all the forgery charges that you’ve pled to in 505.
So each time when you committed a crime, before you resolved it, while you were still on some form of probation, you committed another crime. To me, that warrants incarceration.
The Court of Appeals concluded, faced with the clear and logical statement made by the sentencing court, properly considered the defendant’s chances of reform, criminal history, mitigating factors such as mental health and substance abuse, the resources available to the defendant, the effect Jungvirt’s crime had on the community, and what punishment would best protect the public. In particular, the court emphasized Jungvirt’s consistent pattern of engaging in illegal activity while on probation or pretrial release. The court determined incarceration was necessary.
A district court is not bound by the recommendations in a PSI. Due to its consideration of the relevant factors, the total lack of respect for the court system, the criminal actions when on probation, it became obvious that the district court did not abuse its discretion concerning Jungvirt’s sentence. Accordingly, the court affirmed the sentence.
ZALMA OPINION
It is time that trial and appellate courts stop coddling insurance fraud criminals with probation and half-way-houses and deter the crime with real prison time. That Dustin Jungvirt had the unmitigated chutzpah, on such a ling series of criminal conduct, to claim the court improperly sentenced him to prison was an amazing waste of the time of two courts and should have been condemned with more than affirming the sentence and the addition of serious sanctions.
(c) 2022 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to service as an insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost equally for insurers and policyholders. He practiced law in California for more than 44 years as an insurance coverage and claims handling lawyer and more than 54 years in the insurance business. He is available at http://www.zalma.com and [email protected].
Subscribe to Zalma on Insurance at locals.com https://zalmaoninsurance.local.com/subscribe.
Subscribe to Excellence in Claims Handling at https://barryzalma.substack.com/welcome.
Write to Mr. Zalma at [email protected]; http://www.zalma.com; http://zalma.com/blog; daily articles are published at https://zalma.substack.com.
Go to the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma; Follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/c/c-262921; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the Insurance Claims Library – https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/
Convicted Criminal Seeks to Compel Receiver to Protect his Assets
Post number 5291
See the video at and at and at https://www.zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
The Work of a Court Appointed Receiver is Constitutionally Protected
In Simon Semaan et al. v. Robert P. Mosier et al., G064385, California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Third Division (February 6, 2026) the Court of Appeals applied the California anti-SLAPP statute which protects defendants from meritless lawsuits arising from constitutionally protected activities, including those performed in official capacities. The court also considered the doctrine of quasi-judicial immunity, which shields court-appointed receivers from liability for discretionary acts performed within their official duties.
Facts
In September 2021, the State of California filed felony charges against Simon Semaan, alleging violations of Insurance Code section 11760(a) for making...
When There are Two Different Other Insurance Clauses They Eliminate Each Other and Both Insurers Owe Indemnity Equally
Post number 5289
In Great West Casualty Co. v. Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Co., and Conserv FS, Inc., and Timothy A. Brennan, as Administrator of the Estate of Pat- rick J. Brennan, deceased, Nos. 24-1258, 24-1259, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit (February 11, 2026) the USCA was required to resolve a dispute that arose when a tractor-trailer operated by Robert D. Fisher (agent of Deerpass Farms Trucking, LLC-II) was involved in a side-impact collision with an SUV driven by Patrick J. Brennan, resulting in Brennan’s death.
Facts
Deerpass Trucking, an interstate motor carrier, leased the tractor from Deerpass Farms Services, LLC, and hauled cargo for Conserv FS, Inc. under a trailer interchange agreement. The tractor was insured by Great West Casualty Company with a $1 million policy limit, while the trailer was insured by Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Company with a $2 million ...
Opiod Producer Seeks Indemnity from CGL Insurers
Post number 5288
Read the full article at https://lnkd.in/guNhStN2, see the full video at https://lnkd.in/gYqkk-n3 and at https://lnkd.in/g8U3ehuc, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
Insurers Exclude Damages Due to Insured’s Products
In Matthew Dundon, As The Trustee Of The Endo General Unsecured Creditors’ Trust v. ACE Property And Casualty Insurance Company, et al., Civil Action No. 24-4221, United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania (February 10, 2026) Matthew Dundon, trustee of the Endo General Unsecured Creditors’ Trust, sued multiple commercial general liability (CGL) insurers for coverage of opioid-related litigation involving Endo International PLC a pharmaceutical manufacturer.
KEY FACTS
Beginning as early as 2014, thousands of opioid suits were filed by governments, third parties, and individuals alleging harms tied to opioid manufacturing and marketing.
Bankruptcy & Settlements
Endo filed Chapter 11 in August 2022; before bankruptcy it ...
Passover for Americans
Posted on February 19, 2026 by Barry Zalma
“The Passover Seder For Americans”
For more than 3,000 years Jewish fathers have told the story of the Exodus of the enslaved Jews from Egypt. Telling the story has been required of all Jewish fathers. Americans, who have lived in North America for more than 300 years have become Americans and many have lost the ability to read, write and understand the Hebrew language in which the story of Passover was first told in the Torah. Passover is one of the many holidays Jewish People celebrate to help them remember the importance of G_d in their lives. We see the animals, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, the rain, sun, the planets, the stars, and the people and wonder how did all these wonderful things come into being. Jews believe the force we call G_d created the entire universe and everything in it. Jews feel G_d is all seeing and knowing and although we can’t see Him, He is everywhere and in everyone.We understand...
Passover for Americans
Posted on February 19, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/passover-americans-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-5vgkc.
“The Passover Seder For Americans”
For more than 3,000 years Jewish fathers have told the story of the Exodus of the enslaved Jews from Egypt. Telling the story has been required of all Jewish fathers. Americans, who have lived in North America for more than 300 years have become Americans and many have lostthe ability to read, write and understand the Hebrew language in which the story of Passover was first told in the Torah.
Passover is one of the many holidays Jewish People celebrate to help them remember the importance of G_d in their lives. We see the animals, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, the rain, sun, the planets, the stars, and the people and ...
You Get What You Pay For – Less Coverage Means Lower Premium
Post number 5275
Posted on January 30, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the video at and at
When Experts for Both Sides Agree That Two Causes Concur to Cause a Wall to Collapse Exclusion Applies
In Lido Hospitality, Inc. v. AIX Specialty Insurance Company, No. 1-24-1465, 2026 IL App (1st) 241465-U, Court of Appeals of Illinois (January 27, 2026) resolved the effect of an anti-concurrent cause exclusion to a loss with more than one cause.
Facts and Background
Lido Hospitality, Inc. operates the Lido Motel in Franklin Park, Illinois. In November 2020, a windstorm caused one of the motel’s brick veneer walls to collapse. At the time, Lido was insured under a policy issued by AIX Specialty Insurance Company which provided coverage for windstorm damage. However, the policy contained an exclusion for any loss or damage directly or indirectly resulting from ...
