OXNARD : Man Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

An Oxnard man who claimed that his home was burglarized while he was away during Christmas pleaded guilty to insurance fraud Tuesday after admitting that he had faked the burglary to pay for a drug habit, authorities said.

Burdette Earl Starcher, 32, pleaded guilty to a single count of insurance fraud for filing a false claim with State Farm Insurance after the purported burglary in December, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Bennett said.

Starcher, a petty officer at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme at the time of the offense, will return to Superior Court on Sept. 9 for sentencing.

Starcher had initially reported to Oxnard police that $70,000 worth of goods were stolen from his Norma Street duplex while he, his wife Amanda and their year-old child were visiting relatives in Ohio.

During a subsequent investigation, Oxnard police learned that Starcher had been a heavy cocaine user, and allowed other users to visit after his wife left on the trip, Bennett said.

Before leaving to meet his wife in Ohio, Starcher left his residence and vehicle in the possession of other cocaine users. When the family returned, the house had been ransacked and valuables removed.

According to the investigation, Amanda Starcher had no knowledge of the attempted insurance fraud or her husband’s drug use, Bennett said.