Efrain Alatorre Camarena, 58, pleaded guilty Sept. 17 to three counts of third-degree theft ̶ all of them gross misdemeanors. A Skagit County Superior Court judge ordered him to repay the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) over $140,000, which includes the $122,000 he stole plus interest.

Additionally, the judge sentenced Alatorre to 160 hours of community service and two years on probation. 

Alatorre was accused of illegally taking more than $122,000 in workers’ compensation payments over three-and-a-half years while falsely claiming he was too injured to work. He has already started repaying L&I for the wrongfully obtained funds.

“We’re committed to catching the bad actors who cheat our state’s workers’ compensation system at the expense of the truly injured workers who need it most,” said Steve Reinmuth, assistant director of L&I’s Field Services and Public Safety division.

“When people get caught cheating, they will not only be prosecuted, they’ll have to repay what they took, and they’ll have a criminal record.”

Injured chasing runaway cow

In 2006, Alatorre injured his neck and back when he fell while chasing a runaway cow at a Skagit County dairy farm where he was working.

A doctor determined he couldn’t work because of his on-the-job injuries. In addition, Alatorre regularly signed official documents stating he was not working because of the injuries ̶ one of the requirements to receive payments to replace part of his lost wages.

He received the wage replacement benefits off and on for a total of nine years; the charges applied only to the final three years.

L&I records check leads to investigation

In 2023, L&I investigators conducting a routine comparison of L&I and state Employment Security Department (ESD) data discovered Alatorre was working despite telling L&I that he wasn’t able to. The ESD records, along with paystubs from another Skagit County dairy, revealed he had been working at the farm while he was receiving wage-replacement payments, charging papers said.

Investigators determined he earned over $172,000 working on the farm while collecting more than $122,000 in L&I workers’ compensation payments at the same time, from January 2020 through mid-August 2023.

The Washington State Office of the Attorney General prosecuted the case based on L&I’s investigation. L&I oversees the state workers’ compensation insurance system, which helps injured workers heal and return to work.