(This update adds information provided in a statement by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana and local news reports).
Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles were found guilty Friday of numerous charges related to the Louisiana staged accident scam, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
According to news reports from local Louisiana media, the jury deliberated about six hours Friday after closing arguments wrapped up at the end of the day Thursday. The case was heard in the U.S. Eastern District of Louisiana.
The news reports also said the pair were remanded to federal custody after the verdicts were read. Local news reporting painted a picture of post-verdict chaos.
Motta was found guilty to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Mail fraud and wire fraud have been the charges that other persons indicted in the case have been charged with and which more than four dozen copped a plea to, avoiding a trial.
Giles was convicted of similar charges as Motta, as was his employer, the King Firm.
The Motta/Giles trial was the only one so far in the scam. Every other indictment is either unresolved (a dwindling number) or is one of more than four dozen guilty pleas.
The U.S. Attorney said the total number of individuals charged in Operation Sideswipe is 63.
Their co-conspirator Daiminike Stalbert, was acquitted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. However, he was found guilty of making false statements to federal agents.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Motta will be sentenced July 7, Giles and The King Firm a week later and Stalbert a week after that.
Mail fraud, mail and wire fraud conspiracy and witness tampering each are subject to imprisonment of up to 20 years. Obstruction of justice carries a penalty of 10 years. There are also significant financial penalties that can be issued by the court, including restitution.
The trial lasted approximately three weeks including jury selection.
Following a parade of witnesses called by federal prosecutors, the defense for the indicted attorneys called no witnesses.
Reporting by New Orleans television station WDSU, an NBC affiliate, painted a picture of chaos after the verdicts were read.
Shortly after Judge Vitter left the courtoom temporarily, “Motta rushed to her daughter and mother to console them,” according to a report by the television station. “Motta’s mother then fainted, and chaos erupted in the courtroom. Security guards screamed for a medic. Motta and her daughter were inconsolable. Motta could be heard screaming, “Mommy? Mommy!”
“As family members tended to Motta’s mother, Motta then turned around and vomited. Members of her defense team were seen giving her water.”
When Judge Vitter returned to the courtroom, according to WDSU, she touched a hot potato in saying that the judge believed Motta knew her fiance Sean Alfortish was planning to kill Cornelius Garrison, a “slammer” in the staged accident scheme who was gunned down in his home soon after he pleaded guilty and decided to cooperate with investigators. Alfortish is in jail awaiting a trial on those charges.
The convictions Friday of Motta and Giles were not connected to the Garrison murder. But that didn’t stop Judge Vitter from bringing it up anyway.
” I have no reason whatsoever to believe she is naive or under the influence of anyone else,” Judge Vitter said, according to the news reporting. “ In fact, I believe she knew what she was doing at all times. Further, I made a determination and ruling in this trial that Ms. Motta acquiesced in the death of a witness, Mr. Cornelius Garrison. There is evidence in the record that will come out during that trial as to her acquiescence.”
The scam, which prosecutors dubbed Operation Sideswipe, involved cars intentionally striking trucks and other vehicles in an effort to recover insurance payments for injuries real or faked. Testimony at the trial put the start of the scam as early as 2011. Other testimony suggested the number of incidents that were spelled out in the various indictments were just a fraction of the actual crashes that occurred.
A series of tort law changes in Louisiana have been attributed to reaction to the rising toll of insurance premiums that companies faced as a result of the payouts to collisions that ultimately were found to have been staged.
More articles by John Kingston
What’s going on at the Louisiana staged truck accident trial?
Louisiana staged truck accident indictment widens as trials and sentencings loom
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