Two Charged in Murder of FBI Informant in Truck Scam
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A sweeping federal grand jury indictment has charged two New Orleans men with the murder of a cooperating FBI witness in the investigation of dozens of staged crashes with trucks since 2011.
The 25-page grand jury indictment, announced April 28, alleges that the murder was committed by Sean Alfortish, 57, and Leon Parker, 51, aka “Chunky.” Alfortish is a disbarred attorney, according to prosecutors.
Earlier this year, Ryan Harris, a former co-defendant in this case, pleaded guilty to his role in “causing the death of a federal informant Cornelius Garrison through the use of firearm.” Harris told investigators that Parker was the triggerman and that Garrison was shot 10 times.
Harris was told that two other accused co-conspirators had offered to pay Garrison to not cooperate with investigators, calling him a “rat” and “snitch,” and suggesting that “it would be better if he were dead.”
At one point, one of the alleged co-conspirators offered Garrison $500,000 and a trip to the Bahamas to hide in exchange for ceasing to cooperate with investigators.
That never happened.
Garrison had been a key player in staging the collisions with trucks as a so-called “slammer” in the scheme, including sideswiping 18-wheeler tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles. He was cooperating with the FBI when he was murdered Sept. 22, 2020, at his mother’s home, according to the charges.
In addition, the second superseding 13-count indictment charges Alfortish; Parker; Vanessa Motta, 43, of New Orleans; the New Orleans law firm of Motta Law; Jason Giles, 46, of New Orleans; The King Law Firm of New Orleans; Diaminike Stalbert, 34, of Metairie; Carl Morgan, 66, of New Orleans; and Timara Lawrence, 34, of New Orleans; with participating in the scheme to defraud insurance companies and commercial trucking companies through staged automobile collisions. At least three other unidentified attorneys were referenced in the indictment.
The indictment was issued in connection with many of the estimated 100 staged accidents with trucks since 2011 that were turned into lucrative lawsuits reaping millions of dollars in jury verdicts and out-of-court settlements with motor carriers.
Five of the 13-count allegations concern the homicide of Garrison. One count charges Alfortish and Parker with conspiracy to commit witness tampering through the murder of Garrison, and two counts with conspiracy to retaliate against a witness through murder. Each of the counts is punishable with a maximum of life imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine.
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Including the new indictment, a total of 63 defendants have been charged in the federal probe, known as “Operation Sideswipe.”
The scheme included individuals who rode in automobiles as passengers knowing they would be part of staged collisions. Those individuals later lied as part of fraudulent insurance claims and fraudulent lawsuits based on the staged collisions. Additionally, the scheme included “slammers” who drove the automobiles and intentionally collided with 18-wheeler tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles. After the collisions, the slammers would flee the scene, and a passenger would falsely claim to have been driving at the time of the collision.
The scheme also included “spotters” who drove getaway cars that allowed the slammers to flee the scene after causing a collision to evade detection by law enforcement.
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.
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