NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Federal prosecutors called multiple witnesses Wednesday in the fraud and obstruction of justice trial against Hollywood stunt driver turned personal injury attorney Vanessa Motta, attorney Jason Giles, the firms they worked for and alleged co-conspirator Diamanike Stalbert, aiming to lay out a years-long fraud scheme.
During opening statements Wednesday morning, the government outlined an alleged conspiracy dating back to 2011. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Klebba said Motta and Giles paid “slammers” hundreds of thousands of dollars to crash into mostly tractor-trailers and file fraudulent lawsuits to get big settlements.
Klebba told jurors the case centered on greed, insurance fraud and the exploitation of the legal system in a case authorities have said cost the state millions of dollars and hiked up car insurance rates.
“These were not accidents… far from it,” Klebba said.
Attorneys for both Giles and Motta told jurors their clients had no knowledge of the alleged scheme as it took place. Motta’s attorney, Sean Toomey also blamed alleged co-conspirator Sean Alfortish, with whom Motta had a romantic relationship, for implicating her, calling Motta a “baby, naive attorney.”
Also during his opening statement, Klebba argued participants in the scheme were aware of what they were doing. He said some people even got unnecessary surgery.
“You will hear that it was Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles that profited the most from those surgeries,” he said.
Klebba told jurors the government intends to meet its burden of proof.
“Let me be clear… we will establish beyond a reasonable doubt that these defendants Jason Giles and Vanessa Motta knowingly participated in this scheme… in this conspiracy,” Klebba said.
Fox 8 legal analyst Joe Raspanti said in court he observed the defense working to distance their clients from the alleged scheme.
“It appears that the attorneys for the lawyers involved in the case are going to say all the staged accidents that could have occurred, all the connection between those people could have occurred, but the separation was between those people and the lawyers,” Raspanti said. “The lawyers did not have knowledge of what was going on.”
A truck driver testified Wednesday he was involved in a staged crash in which a slammer hit him. He says that accident caused him to lose out on a $10,000 bonus for no accidents. He added a lawsuit Motta filed against him in connection with the alleged staged crash caused him to start taking anxiety medication. Motta’s attorney maintained the truck driver initially told police the crash was his fault.
A defense attorney who represents trucking companies also testified Wednesday. She said she suspected fraud in lawsuits connected to the alleged scheme and turned over case documents to state and federal law enforcement.
Prosecutors also revealed additional witnesses expected to testify over the coming weeks. Among them is Ryan Harris, who pleaded guilty in the murder of Cornelius Garrison, a witness who was cooperating with the FBI in their investigation of the alleged scheme before he was killed.
Garrison’s testimony, including recordings from when he wore a wire for the FBI, will also be presented at trial.
Other expected witnesses include attorney Patrick Keating, who already pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the case, and Todd Smith, a former employee of the King Firm, which Giles worked for.
The trial is expected to take several weeks.
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Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.