Amateur Weightlifter/Santa Barbara Police Officer Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud

Jacob Finnerty was recently sentenced to 120 days in jail, five years of probation, and more than $115,000 in restitution based on charges of workers’ compensation fraud.

Finnerty was a former offensive lineman in college and a competitive wrestler and weightlifter who subsequently became a Santa Barbara police officer. In 2013, he claimed a lower back injury arising out of his work duties when he was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Investigators, however, subsequently discovered that Finnerty was continuing to participate in wrestling and weightlifting competitions, including in the 2015 California’s Strongest Man Competition. Among the events in that competition, Finnerty successfully lifted 290 lbs. over his head, repeatedly lifted an Atlas stone as many times as he could, and participated in the “Farmer’s Walk/Tire Flip/Sled-Anchor Chain Drag Death Medley.”

As stated by District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley, “[t]he fraud committed by the defendant was paid for by the taxpayers of the City of Santa Barbara, the very same people the defendant was hired to protect.”

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