Operation Sideswipe saga continues

Two more passengers who filed personal injury claims against trucking companies as part of a sweeping conspiracy to stage crashes with commercial vehicles in New Orleans have pleaded guilty to federal charges.

United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that James “Curtis” Williams, 66, of Gibson, La., and Ryan Wheaten, 53, of Lafayette, La., entered guilty pleas to one count each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Williams and Wheaten are among 33 individuals who have been charged in connection with “Operation Sideswipe,” a scheme by which a personal injury lawyer in New Orleans would pay individual “slammers” to deliberately crash occupied passenger vehicles into commercial trucks and buses.

As of press time, 25 of 33 individuals indicted had entered guilty pleas.

According to the plea agreement, on March 27, 2017, Williams conspired with co-defendants-passengers Tanya Givens, John Diggs and Lois Russell to stage a crash with a tractor-trailer at the intersection of Chef Menteur Highway and Downman Road, for which the victim trucking and insurance companies paid out $272,500 in fraudulent claims.

Also involved were Damien Labeaud and Roderick Hickman – who have pleaded guilty to staging other crashes. Hickman, while driving Russell’s car, intentionally struck the 18-wheeler and then fled the scene with Labeaud.

Russell told police that she was the driver and she, along with Williams, Givens and Diggs, made claims for personal injuries. Russell, Givens and Diggs also have pleaded guilty.

Also according to the plea agreement, on May 17, 2017, Wheaten along with participants Labeaud, Mario Solomon, Henry Randle and Dakota Diggs participated in a staged automobile wreck in the vicinity of U.S. Highway 90 East and Calliope Street in New Orleans.

While Labeaud and Solomon fled the scene, Randle falsely reported to police that he had been driving and that the tractor-trailer had struck his vehicle. Shortly thereafter, Labeaud and Solomon went on to stage a second accident in the vicinity of Louisa Street and Chickasaw Street with Bernell Gale, Troy Smith, Marvel Francois and another passenger.

Solomon, Gale, Smith, and Francois already pleaded guilty. After the staged crash, Wheaten, Randle, and Dakota Diggs made claims for personal injuries. The victim trucking and insurance companies paid out approximately $10,000 in fraudulent claims.

Both Williams and Wheaten face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, as well as a term of supervised release up to three years, and/or a fine of $250,000. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 27.

Personal injury lawyer cops plea

In June, attorney Danny Patrick Keating Jr., 52, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud at a hearing in federal court in Louisiana. A personal injury lawyer, Keating admitted to paying a co-conspirator for 31 illegally staged crashes involving tractor-trailers, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Of those 31 crashes, 17 were settled out of court. Keating and his clients received approximately $1.5 million, of which Keating kept $358,000. The lawsuits filed on behalf of the 77 plaintiffs fraudulently alleged who was driving the vehicles, misrepresented who was at fault in the staged crashes, and falsely claimed injuries.

In February, C.R. England filed a racketeering lawsuit involving the scheme.

Salt Lake City-based C.R. England filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, or RICO, civil lawsuit, alleging a New Orleans based attorney conspired with other individuals to profit from a fraudulent settlement involving a phony crash with one of the company’s tractors, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The lawsuit specifically refers to an Oct. 13, 2015, crash, which was settled for more than $4.7 million. The lawsuit also references multiple staged crashes that occurred at the same intersection on Highway 90 in New Orleans. LL