"Highway Robbery": Personal Injury Attorneys Convicted in Staged Crash Scheme NEW ORLEANS — A federal jury has convicted personal injury attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles on all charges related to a scheme involving staged collisions with 18-wheelers, according to a case first uncovered by WWL Louisiana. The trial, which concluded just over two weeks ago, revealed that the attorneys paid individuals to intentionally crash into tractor-trailers to file lawsuits and secure larger settlements. A third defendant, Diaminike Stalbert, was found guilty of making false statements but was cleared of a conspiracy charge. Prosecutors alleged that Motta and Giles orchestrated a scheme where so-called “slammers” were recruited to stage crashes, enabling the attorneys to exploit legal loopholes and maximize financial gains. The attorneys admitted the existence of the scheme but claimed they were unaware of its full extent. The convictions included charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, multiple mail fraud counts, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering for Motta and her law firm. Testimony during the trial included accounts from individuals who participated in the scheme. Damian Labeaud and Ryan Harris, referred to as “slammers,” described being paid to stage collisions. Danny Patrick Keating Jr., who pleaded guilty and testified against the defendants, and disbarred attorney Sean Alfortish, a former magistrate, also provided critical evidence. An FBI special agent and a lawyer familiar with the scheme were among the witnesses. Leon “Chunky” Parker and Cornelius Garrison III, another slammer who had been cooperating with the FBI before his 2020 murder, were central to the case. Prosecutors noted that Garrison’s death temporarily slowed the pace of indictments.#vanessa_motta #jason_giles #diaminike_stalbert #operation_sideswipe #wwl_louisiana
Federal witness testifies in New Orleans staged 18-wheeler crash fraud trial An inmate who pleaded guilty in a murder plot took the witness stand Monday in a federal trial involving staged 18-wheeler accidents in New Orleans, now in its third week. Personal injury attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles, along with their law firms and alleged co-conspirator Diaminike Stalbert, face multiple fraud-related charges. Prosecutors allege they participated in schemes involving intentional car crashes into 18-wheelers and fraudulent lawsuits. Ryan Harris, an inmate serving a 35-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to a murder connected to the case, testified for over two hours about the operations of personal injury attorneys and the financial aspects of the schemes. Harris described how he began intentionally crashing cars into 18-wheelers around 2017, introduced to the scheme by Cornelius Garrison. He stated that Motta represented him early on and that he had dealings with the King Law Firm, where Jason Giles worked. Harris later operated independently, staging car-on-car crashes, recruiting other drivers, and directing their claims to Motta. He informed Motta of his decision to work separately, saying she advised him to ensure the crashes were severe to maximize insurance payouts. Harris recounted that Motta occasionally expressed frustration with some participants for mishandling crashes, telling her, “There’s going to be bad ones...anything could happen. It was all fraud.” He also mentioned that he continued submitting cases to Motta until 2023 and received kickback checks from her fiancé, Sean Alfortish, at the time. In early 2025, Harris pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the murder of Cornelius Garrison, who was shot and killed in 2020 during a probe into staged wrecks.#new_orleans #vanessa_motta #jason_giles #federal_witness #diaminike_stalbert
