D.C. Man Stages Burglary for False Claims, Gets Turned In by Roommate

Washington, D.C., authorities said a local man was sentenced to a year of supervised probation, a suspended sentence of three years and a $100 fine after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree insurance fraud. The sentencing was announced last week in DC Superior Court.

Authorities said Brian Smith staged a burglary of his home in October 2010 and filed a false report with the police claiming that he had returned home and noticed his front door damaged and many belongings stolen.

He filed two insurance claims totaling almost $62,000 with State Farm Insurance Company, one for the items he claimed had been stolen and another for the personal property he claimed was damaged.

But Smith’s roommate found his laptop and other items Smith had reported stolen and informed State Farm, which notified the District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking.

Smith’s sentence, handed down by Judge Heidi Pasichow of the DC Superior Court, was mitigated because he repaid the entire amount of the claim.