NEW ORLEANS – An inmate who pleaded guilty to his role in a murder plot took the witness stand on Monday in a federal trial focusing on staged 18-wheeler accidents in New Orleans.
The trial, now in its third week, is centered on fraud-related charges against personal injury attorneys Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles, their law firms, and alleged co-conspirator Diaminike Stalbert.
Testimony on Staged Accidents and Fraudulent Lawsuits
In a two-hour testimony, Ryan Harris, who is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence, spoke about his involvement in the schemes that staged accidents and sought fraudulent lawsuits. Harris had previously pleaded guilty to a murder connected to the case.
Harris detailed how he started intentionally crashing cars into 18-wheelers around 2017, initially introduced to the scheme by Cornelius Garrison. He said Vanessa Motta represented him early on, and he also worked with Jason Giles at the King Law Firm.
Harris’ Involvement in the Fraud Scheme
Harris testified that he later moved to stage car-on-car crashes independently, recruiting other drivers to participate and directing the claims to Motta. Harris said that he directly informed Motta of his decision to operate independently, recalling their conversation:
“I just let her know in advance and that I’ll be back…and she said make sure to hit them right and the policy is high.”
Harris described how Motta occasionally became upset when the “slammers,” or crash drivers, did not execute the staged accidents well. He recalled telling her:
“There’s going to be bad ones…anything could happen. It was all fraud.”
The Murder of Cornelius Garrison
In 2020, Cornelius Garrison, who had been cooperating with federal investigators in their probe into the staged accidents, was shot and killed in Gentilly. Harris testified that he continued to bring cases to Motta until 2023 and received kickback payments from Motta’s fiancé at the time, Sean Alfortish.
Harris later pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in the murder of Garrison in 2025, agreeing to testify against the defendants in the trial.
Cross-Examination and Testimony of FBI Agent
On cross-examination, Harris told defense attorneys for Motta and Giles that he never received direct payments from them, a detail the defense emphasized during questioning.
In the afternoon session, the prosecution called an FBI agent to testify. The agent explained that the investigation into the staged accidents began in 2019, leading to the broader investigation known as “Operation Sideswipe.”
Evidence Presented by the Prosecution
Prosecutors presented recorded conversations between Motta and the alleged “slammers,” in which Motta is heard saying,
“I’m trying to protect you,” when discussing the involvement of FBI and U.S. Marshals.
The prosecution also played a December 2019 video recorded by Cornelius Garrison, who was wearing a wire for the FBI. The video showed Garrison meeting with Sean Alfortish, a disbarred attorney, at Clearview Mall and discussing concerns about federal investigations.
A special agent testified that the cover story for payments between Alfortish and Garrison was that they were for construction work Garrison performed for Alfortish.
Months later, Garrison was indicted in Operation Sideswipe and subsequently murdered.
Upcoming Trials
Sean Alfortish and Leon Parker, who are charged in connection with Garrison’s murder, are scheduled to stand trial later this year.
Trial Resumes
Testimony in the trial is set to resume Tuesday.
