Woman gets probation in New Orleans staged-crash fraud scheme

Another woman involved in a New Orleans staged-crash fraud scheme involving tractor-trailers has been sentenced.

Keishira Robinson, 27, of New Orleans, has been sentenced to pay $4.7 million in restitution and serve five years of probation for her role in a scheme authorities have dubbed “Operation Sideswipe.”

There have been 36 defendants convicted in the staged-crash fraud scheme.

A tractor-trailer owned and operated by C.R. England was involved in the specific collision referenced in a statement on Robinson’s sentencing issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana.

Previously, Salt Lake City-based C.R. England filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act lawsuit in connection with the staged-crash fraud scheme

Robinson pleaded guilty in December 2020 with three others to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

The four admitted to being involved in intentionally colliding with a tractor-trailer in the area of Alvar Street and France Road in New Orleans.

All four defendants that pleaded guilty in December 2020 were referred to an attorney who paid Damien Labeaud for staging this accident, among others. All of the defendants were treated by doctors and healthcare providers at the direction of their attorneys. Three of them underwent surgeries in connection with the scheme. In July 2019, the victim trucking and insurance company paid out approximately $4.7 million total for the fraudulent claims associated with this staged crash.

Previous related coverage

Damien Labeaud, who was called a “ringleader” by prosecutors, pleaded guilty for his role in the staged-accident 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