Louisiana staged accidents

The count in Louisiana now is 26 out of 33.

That’s the number of defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with the staged accident scam in the state. The number of people indicted is 33, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The total of 26 now includes the guilty plea of Genetta Isreal. The Houston resident pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for being part of the scheme to extract insurance payments from trucking companies...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/busy-month-in-louisiana-another-guilty-plea-in-staged-accident-case

With two more defendants entering guilty pleas, the number of participants in the Louisiana staged accident scam who have taken that step continues to climb, but with a distinct absence of one type of occupation.

That occupation is attorney. By FreightWaves’ count, there have now been at least 15 guilty pleas in the scheme that saw attorneys and what the court refers to as “co-conspirators” recruit individuals to stage accidents with trucks — or in at least one case, a bus — with the goal of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/2-more-enter-guilty-pleas-in-louisiana-staged-accident-scheme

The first sentence in the Louisiana staged truck accident scandal has been handed down, with a relatively low-level conspirator getting 21 months behind bars for his role. 

Mario Solomon was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon to that term in prison, along with three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution of approximately $71,000 to the victims in the case, though it wasn’t immediately clear who the court would identify as the victims beyond the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/first-sentence-in-louisiana-staged-accidents-less-than-2-years

Four individuals indicted earlier this year in the Louisiana staged accident scheme pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud charges Thursday, bringing the total number of guilty pleas in the scandal to 15.

The four individuals pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New Orleans to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which has been the federal charge used against virtually all the defendants in the case. The defendants who pleaded guilty are Anthony Robinson, 67; Audrey Harris, 53; Jerry Schaffer,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/quartet-of-louisiana-staged-accident-slammers-and-other-participants-plead-guilty-to-federal-charges

When Damien Labeaud got hired by indicted New Orleans attorney Danny Keating in 2017, it was as a “runner” and parts of the job reportedly were for legitimate purposes.

Keating was indicted on federal mail fraud charges last week as the first attorney charged in the Louisiana staged accident scheme. But based on the specifics of the indictment announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Keating’s legitimate use of Labeaud to find new business turned into a far...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/indicted-attorney-allegedly-wasnt-first-to-direct-louisiana-staged-accident-scheme

The Louisiana staged-accident scheme investigation has scooped up one of the alleged organizers.

Danny P. Keating, a New Orleans attorney, was indicted Thursday in the Eastern District of Louisiana on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, according to an announcement from the office of U.S. attorney for the district, Peter Strasser.

The earlier guilty plea of Damian Labeaud in the scandal appears to have been a key part of the indictment against Keating. According to the prepared...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/news-alert-new-orleans-lawyer-indicted-in-staged-accident-scheme