Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Through political action, legal, academic and market research, and grassroots initiatives, TLR fights for common-sense reforms that keep Texas open for business.

  • About TLR
    • Our Mission
    • Our Team
    • Timeline of Reforms
  • Videos
  • Issues
  • Resource Center
    • Special Reports
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • The Advocate
    • TLR Blog: For the Record
  • Get Involved
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Invite a TLR Speaker
  • Donate
  • Stay Informed
In the News

New Orleans attorney charged in federal probe of brazen staged-accident scheme

New Orleans Advocate, November 5, 2020

By John Simerman

U.S. Attorney Peter Strasser announced the first felony charges against a New Orleans attorney in a blockbuster federal probe into “slammers,” “spotters,” and the vehicle collisions they allegedly staged involving tractor trailers and buses over several years.

The charges announced Thursday against lawyer Danny Keating, though hardly a surprise, mark a dramatic development in an investigation that has produced public charges against 32 defendants, unfurled over the course of several indictments. Strasser announced the new indictment in a rare news conference outside the federal courthouse on Poydras Street.

Until now, lawyers accused of working with street-level “slammers” to orchestrate perhaps hundreds of staged crashes in the New Orleans area hadn’t been charged and weren’t identified by name in federal court records. Keating has been referred to in federal court documents as “Attorney A.”

Some of their identities have been revealed and confirmed since, gleaned through civil court filings and other records. A recently filed civil lawsuit accused Keating and two alleged accomplices, both of whom have pleaded guilty in the federal criminal case, of racketeering.

The sprawling case has opened a window to a brazen racket that allegedly involved many New Orleans-area residents volunteering to risk injury, and in some cases surgery, for cash.

In various groups, led over several years by a series of slammers, the scheme called for packing vehicles with willing participants and driving into major wrecks.

Slammers like Damian Labeaud and Cornelius Garrison III — who appeared to work their alleged schemes separately, in cahoots with different lawyers – would do the driving, then jump into a getaway car driven by a “spotter.”

One of the remaining passengers would then slide behind the wheel, with lawsuits to follow.

Prosecutors allege they were aided by lawyers who would advise them on how to maximize the payout, including recommendations for choosing surgery afterward.

Lawyers who defend insurance companies began seeing a steep rise in those commercial vehicle accidents, and in the same locations, mostly along the stretch of Interstate 10 leading out of downtown into New Orleans East.

Those lawyers connected the dots and began challenging those big-ticket accident claims in civil court, later spurring the federal investigation.

The white-collar probe took on a dark specter in September, when Garrison, an allegedly prolific slammer, was shot dead at age 54 inside his apartment in the Gentilly neighborhood.

His slaying came four days after his name appeared atop an indictment naming nine defendants in an alleged staged-accident scheme.

Authorities fear it was a hit job to stymie the prosecution.

Garrison’s attorney, federal public defender Claude Kelly, has said his client had feared for his life in the weeks before he was killed. Kelly declined to say whether Garrison had been helping the government.

The indictmeNnt says Garrison earned $150,000 over the course of dozens of crashes, with the help of an attorney since identified as Vanessa Motta, and her fiancé, disbarred lawyer Sean Alfortish. Neither Motta nor Alfortish has been charged.

In the meantime, several other defendants in the probe have pleaded guilty, including Labeaud.

The most recent guilty pleas came last month. Roderick Hickman, 49, of Baton Rouge, Bernell Gale, 43, of Raceland, and Troy Smith, 56, of Houma, each pleaded guilty to mail fraud for their roles in the scam.

Authorities claim Hickman played a central role as organizer, slammer and spotter, including pretending to be a witness to accidents staged by others.

Their pleas only drew the federal crosshairs tighter on the attorneys who allegedly conspired with those accident-stagers to profit from the settlement fees on manufactured wrecks.

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

7 hours ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

When 30-year-old Quinnton Allen violated his parole for possession of a firearm, a Houston judge not only allowed him to stay on parole but granted him a PR bond for a felony. Unfortunately, the decision to release him on bond may have cost a man’s life. Read and share: bit.ly/3OvDU5z ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

29-year-old man murdered after judge grants felony PR bond to armed robber recently paroled from prison

bit.ly

HOUSTON – “I’ve never had any of these defendants we’ve profiled on Breaking Bond on parole and on a felony PR bond charged with murder,” said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers. “This is a fi...
View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 3

Comment on Facebook

That judge should be held accountable

His family should get a good lawyer & sue the city & the judge…

The judge should be held as an accomplice to the murder before the fact and sued in civil court for his contribution to the death of the citizen.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

1 day ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Texas ports are thriving today, but in the early 2000s, abusive personal injury lawsuits threatened to shut them down. As the Port of Houston begins a long-awaited expansion, read more about the common-sense lawsuit reform in 2007 that saved our state’s shipping industry in this week’s TLR blog, For the Record: bit.ly/3aeTy6n ... See MoreSee Less

Learn More

Play
View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

  • Likes: 5
  • Shares: 2
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

2 days ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Wishing everyone a very happy Fourth of July! ... See MoreSee Less

Wishing everyone a very happy Fourth of July!
View on Facebook
·Share

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by Email

  • Likes: 5
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Happy Independence Day America Today we celebrate our Republic 🇺🇸


Follow us on Twitter

lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
1h 1544803550676615169

Join us in pursuing our mission of creating a fair, balanced, and predictable legal system! #lawsuitreform #stoplawsuitabuse

Get Involved

Texans for Lawsuit Reform has thousands of supporters from across Texas who are committed to a fair and balanced civil justice system.

bit.ly

Reply on Twitter 1544803550676615169Retweet on Twitter 15448035506766151691Like on Twitter 15448035506766151692Twitter 1544803550676615169
lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
7h 1544713193846603777

When 30-year-old Quinnton Allen violated his parole for possession of a firearm, a Houston judge not only allowed him to stay on parole but granted him a PR bond for a felony. The decision to release him on bond may have cost a man’s life. Read & RT:

29-year-old man murdered after judge grants felony PR bond to armed robber recently paroled from prison

HOUSTON – “I’ve never had any of these defendants we’ve profiled on Breaking Bond on parole and on a felony PR bond charged with m...

bit.ly

Reply on Twitter 1544713193846603777Retweet on Twitter 1544713193846603777Like on Twitter 1544713193846603777Twitter 1544713193846603777
lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
5 Jul 1544441042120089600

Sign up for the TLR Weekly News Roundup to receive a daily digest of headlines & news stories about #lawsuitreform from Texas & around the country!

Sign up for the TLR Weekly News Roundup!

Please use the form below to receive a daily digest of TLR Clips - headlines and news stories about lawsuit reform from Texas and around the country.

bit.ly

Reply on Twitter 1544441042120089600Retweet on Twitter 1544441042120089600Like on Twitter 15444410421200896001Twitter 1544441042120089600

Texans for Lawsuit Reform
1701 Brun Street
Houston, Texas 77019

Ph. 713-963-9363
  • About TLR
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Timeline of Reforms
  • Videos
  • Issues
  • Resource Center
  • For the Record
  • Special Reports
  • In the News
  • Press Releases
  • Invite a TLR Speaker
  • Get Involved
  • Invite a TLR Speaker
  • Donate
  • Stay Informed
  • Contact TLR

Copyright © 2022 · Texans for Lawsuit Reform. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy