Operation Sideswipe update

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NEW ORLEANS — In a surprise blockbuster indictment in the sprawling federal investigation into more than 100 truck accidents staged for insurance fraud that netted millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains, authorities indicted a man for the murder of a federal witness, a crime that could carry the death penalty.

The Sept. 22, 2020, execution-style shooting of Cornelius Garrison, who had secretly been cooperating with the FBI, was a major setback as authorities tried to climb the ladder from small-time scammers and street-level organizers to the attorneys and doctors who they say raked in millions of dollars through bogus lawsuits and even unnecessary surgeries.

So far, the case has led to 52 people being indicted and 44 of them pleading guilty, but only a single attorney, Danny Patrick Keating, has entered a guilty in exchange for his cooperation. That has sparked some criticism of the five-year probe's slow pace and lackluster results, but multiple delays in Keating’s long-awaiting sentencing led to speculation of bigger bombshells.

That bomb was dropped on Monday.

The explosive new development unfolded without fanfare late Monday at a first appearance in federal court on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Wells Roby. The indictment against the murder suspect, and a new female defendant, had not yet been entered into the federal court database early Tuesday.

Both defendants were clients of Hollywood stuntwoman-turned-attorney Vanessa Motta, a

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Vanessa Motta

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execution-style shooting of Cornelius Garrison, who had secretly been cooperating with the FBI, was a major setback

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