Three attorney and two law firms are among the defendants in a new federal indictment stemming from an investigation into staged car crashes that were used to defraud insurance companies. These indictments come four years after another defendant in the case was shot and killed after he cooperated with authorities.
According to the superseding indictment released on Monday, attorneys Sean Alfortish, Vanessa Motta, and their law firm, Motta Law; attorney Jason Giles and his firm, King Law; and five others have been charged in connection with the case. Giles and the King firm are facing wire fraud, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice charges. Alfortish, Motta, and Motta Law are facing conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering charges.
Another defendant, Ryan J. Harris, is facing murder, witness tampering, and retaliation charges in connection with the 2020 death of Cornelius Garrison.
Garrison was a defendant in the original indictment in which he and several others, including attorney Danny Patrick Keating, were accused of intentionally causing car crashes in the New Orleans metro area with the intent of defrauding insurance companies out of money through fraudulent claims and fraudulent lawsuits. In October 2019, Garrison began cooperating with federal authorities, assisting them with their investigation. Eleven months later, Garrison was gunned down outside his Gentilly home in front of his mother.
According to the indictment, Harris murdered Garrison to prevent him from working with the feds and “exposing the scheme to stage collisions.”
The indictment says Alfortish, Motta, Giles, and their respective law firms learned of the federal investigation in 2019. Motta and Alfortish are accused of offering to pay Garrison and to move him out of the country if he agreed not to work with federal agents. They are also accused of “(manipulating) an individual into making false statements” and “obstructing Garrison and Harris’s participation in civil depositions” related to the staged crashes.
Giles and his firm are accused of secretly recording two other defendants to manipulate them. Giles is also accused of trying to cover up the scheme by telling one of the other defendants to leave town and by convincing passengers involved in the staged crashes to sign false documents.
Harris faces a mandatory life sentence. The attorneys face up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
