Two get prison time for fraud case involving big trucks

Two more people have been sentenced in the staged-crash fraud scheme involving tractor-trailers known as Operation Sideswipe.

John Diggs, 62, of Thibodaux, La., and James Williams, 68, of Gibson, La., were each sentenced to 10 months in prison for their roles in the fraud scheme, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with the New Orleans case involving staged collisions between automobiles and tractor-trailers.

Diggs and Williams conspired with passengers Lois Russell and Tanya Givens to stage an accident with a tractor-trailer at the intersection of Chef Menteur Highway and Downman Road. Damien Labeaud and Roderick Hickman, who have already pleaded guilty to staging other crashes, also participated in this crash.

Hickman, while driving Russell’s car, intentionally struck the 18-wheeler and then fled the scene with Labeaud. Russell told the New Orleans Police Department that she was the driver. She, along with Givens, Diggs and Williams made claims for personal injuries. In total, the victim trucking and insurance companies paid out $272,500 for these fraudulent claims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Four others were recently sentenced for their roles in Operation Sideswipe. David Wheaten, 51, of Morgan City, La., was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by supervised release. The others sentenced at the same time were sentenced to supervised release.

Wheaten and others introduced “slammer” Damian Labeaud to attorney Patrick Keating in 2017. Keating agreed to pay Labeaud for staged automobile collisions. Wheaten recruited passengers to participate in staged automobile collisions with tractor-trailers in New Orleans, including on May 17, 2017 and on June 5, 2017. The passengers in these collisions filed fraudulent lawsuits that falsely claimed the tractor-trailers were at fault.

Dozens previously sentenced in Operation Sideswipe

In April 2022, Keishira Robinson, 27, of New Orleans, was sentenced to pay $4.7 million in restitution and serve five years of probation for her role in the scheme.

Labeaud, who was called a “ringleader” by prosecutors, pleaded guilty for his role in the staged-crash fraud scheme in August 2020.

Prosecutors indicted 11 people in a related incident in August 2020.

A man indicted for being a “spotter” in a related staged-crash fraud incident was found shot to death in September 2020, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

New Orleans attorney Danny Patrick Keating Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with the fraud scheme in June 2021. LL