Two defendants charged with allegedly murdering a federal witness in a staged accident fraud case

NEW ORLEANS – Authorities have charged two people with the murder of a witness as part of a federal investigation into more than 100 truck accidents that were staged for insurance fraud and netted millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains, WWL-TV reports.

Ryan Harris and Jovanna Gardner were charged Monday with witness tampering with murder and conspiracy to retaliate against a witness with murder. They also participated in the staged accidents through mail and wire fraud, according to WWL-TV reports.

Dozens have been accused of packing themselves into cars with medium-duty “slammers” behind the wheel to intentionally side-wipe 18-wheel trucks. The vast majority of the risky crashes occurred on stretches of I-10 and other major highways in eastern New Orleans, WWL-TV reports. This was one of the first warning signs that provoked intensive scrutiny by the trucking companies’ and insurers’ defense attorneys and initially exposed the lawsuits as fraudulent.

Harris and Gardner are accused of carrying out the September 22, 2020, execution-style shooting of Cornelius Garrison, who had been secretly cooperating with the FBI in the case. The witness’s death was a major setback as authorities graduated from small-time fraudsters and street organizers to lawyers and doctors. WWL-TV reports that authorities say the scam made millions of dollars through fake lawsuits and even unnecessary operations.

The case has resulted in 52 people being charged and 44 of them pleading guilty, but only a single attorney, Danny Patrick Keating, entered a guilty plea in exchange for cooperation, WWL-TV reports.

“Ryan J. Harris aka ‘Red’ and Jovanna R. Gardner killed and aided and abetted the killing of Cornelius Garrison, which killing constitutes first-degree murder,” the indictment states. WWL-TV noted that the crime could potentially carry the death penalty.

As WWL-TV reports, the new development passed without much fanfare during an initial appearance in federal court late Monday evening. The eight-page indictment against Harris and Gardner was only entered into the federal court database on Tuesday.

Both defendants were clients of Hollywood stuntwoman-turned-lawyer Vanessa Motta, a central figure in the staged accident investigation after five truck accident lawsuits she filed on behalf of clients were frozen due to the lengthy federal investigation.

Motta is listed as “Attorney B” in federal court documents. Her fiancé, Sean Alfortish, a disbarred lawyer who served time in federal prison for an unrelated fraud case, is listed as “Co-conspirator A,” a phrase prosecutors typically use as a clear signal of criminal involvement.

Neither man has been charged, WWL-TV reports.