A disbarred New Orleans attorney has been indicted for allegedly conspiring to murder a witness who provided information to the FBI about an elaborate insurance-fraud scheme to stage vehicle collisions with big-rigs.
Former lawyer Sean D. Alfortish, 57, and Leon M. “Chunky” Parker, 51, both of New Orleans, were alleged to be part of a conspiracy to murder a federal witness who was cooperating with federal officials investigating what has been dubbed “Operation Sideswipe,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana. The witness, Cornelius Garrison, was gunned down on Sept. 22, 2020, in a gangland-style hit at the witness’s mother’s home in New Orleans, according to a superseding indictment returned by a grand jury on April 25.
Garrison had served as a “slammer” in a series of staged auto accidents with 18-wheeler tractor trailers, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. A slammer refers to a person who willfully drives a vehicle containing passengers into a tractor trailer. The passengers later file injury claims with the help of doctors and attorneys, according to federal prosecutors.
A former co-defendant in the case, Ryan J. Harris, previously acknowledged his role in the Garrison killing. Harris pleaded guilty to causing the witness’s death through the use of a firearm in January, as well as conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office states.
Alfortish’s attorney took issue with the allegations in the 13-count indictment filed last month.
“Sean is not guilty of these crimes, and we will be fighting to clear his name,” attorney Shaun Clarke told the Louisiana Record in an email.
The indictment also reiterates information unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office last year. The new indictment alleges the involvement of two law firms – Motta Law LLC and the King Firm, both in New Orleans – in the conspiracy to defraud insurance companies and commercial trucking firms through the staged collisions. Alfortish, Parker, former attorney Vanessa Motta, 43, former attorney Jason F. Giles, 46, and several others were also named as conspirators in the collision scheme, according to the indictment.
The counts against the law firms and former attorneys also include witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
As a result of the Operation Sideswipe investigation, another attorney, Danny Patrick Keating, pleaded guilty in 2021 to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud.
“The scheme included individuals (‘spotters’) who drove getaway cars that allowed the slammers to flee the scene after causing a collision and evade detection by law enforcement,” the U.S. Attorney’s news release says. “The spotters would sometimes also pretend to be eyewitnesses and would flag down the commercial vehicles after the staged collisions, alleging that the commercial vehicles were at fault.”
The counts against Alfortish and Parker involving the Garrison killing could lead to life imprisonment and fines of up to $250,000 per count.
The Operation Sideswipe investigation has led to 63 defendants being charged with staging vehicle collisions in the New Orleans region, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The acting U.S. attorney, Michael M. Simpson, stressed that the latest indictment is only a charge and that the defendants’ guilt must be shown to be beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Louisiana State Bar Association suspended both Giles and Motta from practicing law in December of last year.