Seven More Indicted in New Orleans Staged Crash Scam
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Seven individuals have been charged with staging two accidents with tractor-trailers in New Orleans, bringing the number of indictments to 40 in a federal investigation into intentional collisions with trucks.
On Sept. 13, federal prosecutors announced a four-count indictment of seven individuals on mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud charges in connection with intentional collisions in 2016 and 2017.
Charged in the latest round of indictments were Ashley McGowan, 35; Lertrice Johnson, 45; Davienque Johnson, 27; Herbert Allen, 36; Troylynn Brown, 34; Dion Ridley, 22; and Jarvis Brown, 29; all of the New Orleans area.
Possible Punishment
If convicted:
Prison sentence — Defendants face a maximum penalty of five years for count 1 and 20 years as to counts 2-4.
Upon release from prison — Each defendant can be placed on a term of supervised release for up to five years and fined up to $250,000 per count.
The indictment charges the defendants with conspiring among themselves and with others to stage automobile accidents with tractor-trailers to defraud trucking and insurance companies.
The first such incident occurred June 8, 2016, in a collision with a truck owned by Transportation Consultants Inc., an interstate trucking company based in Texarkana, Ark., according to the indictment. The second one occurred June 28, 2017, with a tractor-trailer owned by Frisard’s Trucking Co., an interstate firm based in Gramercy, La.
In 2019, an attorney “known to the grand jury” requested settlements for the two staged crashes of $450,000 and $475,000, court documents said. The indictment also alleged that in 2020, a second unidentified attorney demanded settlements of $210,000 and $295,000. In total, the cases actually settled for more than $1 million.
The two ringleaders involved in the latest indictment were believed to have staged at least 100 accidents from 2015-2017, according to court records.
The seven defendants were treated by unidentified doctors and health care providers at the direction of their attorneys, court records said.
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To date, 23 of the 40 defendants charged in the estimated 100 staged accidents have pleaded guilty in federal court, according to prosecutors.
News of the crashes in the New Orleans area was first made public in March 2019 for incidents involving two tractor-trailers in 2017. After the first round of indictments, attorneys representing trucking companies called the scams the “tip of the iceberg.”
Carriers that travel through the area have since been alerted to the scams by attorneys with trucking companies and insurance clients who were victims. In 2019, attorneys representing victims and potential victims identified similarities among at least 30 cases.
Those suspicious crashes included multiple people in a claimant vehicle, sideswipe allegations with commercial vehicle trailers, minimal damage to a claimant vehicle, little to no damage to the insured trailer and a commercial vehicle driver who is either unaware of or denies impact.
In a court appearance June 17, Danny Patrick Keating Jr., became the first attorney to plead guilty in the sweeping conspiracy. At least three other unidentified attorneys have been referenced in federal indictments of participating in the scam but have not yet been charged.
Federal authorities said Keating represented 77 plaintiffs who filed false court claims related to 31 staged accidents.
Keating faces a maximum term of five years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 and a term of supervised release up to three years.
Prosecutors said the FBI, Louisiana State Police and the Metropolitan Crime Commission have been involved in the investigation.
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