Sean Alfortish(left) and Vanessa Motta
NEW ORLEANS – The fate of a disbarred attorney and another man alleged to have conspired to murder a federal witness in a staged wreck insurance fraud scheme now rests in the hands of the jury.
The jury entered its fourth day of deliberations September 2 in the trial for Sean Alfortish, who also is a former Kenner city judge, and co-defendant Leon “Chunky” Parker for the 2020 death of Cornelius Garrison III.
Federal prosecutors claim Alfortish helped engineer the staged wreck operation and arranged the murder. Both Alfortish and Parker have pleaded not guilty.
The government rested its case August 27 after nearly three weeks of testimony, with the final evidence including testimony from FBI agents and phone, financial and location records intended to corroborate the account of Ryan “Red” Harris, a cooperating witness who has pleaded guilty in connection with both staged crashes and Garrison’s death.
The case is the second major federal staged wreck trial this year. In March, a jury convicted personal injury attorneys Vanessa Motta, who also was Alfortish’s fiancée, and Jason Giles of charges including conspiracy, mail fraud, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Prosecutors allege Alfortish profited from a scheme in which “slammers” deliberately collided with 18-wheelers and other commercial vehicles, then pursued fraudulent injury claims and lawsuits. They contend Garrison, a longtime participant who began helping the FBI in 2019, became a threat to the operation and was killed September 22, 2020, outside his mother’s Gentilly home. The government says Alfortish set the killing in motion and Parker carried it out.
U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter denied defense motions for acquittal after the government rested, finding that the credibility of the government’s witnesses was a question for jurors.
Closing arguments on August 28 featured sharply opposed accounts of the evidence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Payne told jurors the fraud and killing were part of a continuous effort to protect a lucrative fraud business. Prosecutors highlighted approximately $194,000 in transactions involving Alfortish and Garrison, a recorded 2019 meeting at Clearview Mall during which Garrison was secretly cooperating with investigators, internet searches prosecutors said showed Alfortish’s concern about the federal inquiry and location and phone data connected to Parker and Harris before the shooting.
The government claims Harris served as a “matchmaker” between Alfortish and Parker, that Parker bought gloves and left his usual phone at home before the killing and that Parker later met Alfortish at a Home Depot to receive payment. Prosecutors also cited evidence that Parker searched Garrison’s name before the killing and researched Alfortish afterward.
Parker’s attorney, Richard Schroeder, argued Harris was the actual shooter and had shifted blame to Parker in hopes of reducing his own punishment. Schroeder told jurors Harris had access to a 9mm firearm, acquired the vehicle used in the killing through his auto auction business, destroyed phones and was tied to license plate reader evidence. He stressed that no forensic or digital evidence placed Parker at Garrison’s home at the time of the shooting.
Alfortish attorney Shaune Clarke argued the case rested excessively on cooperating witnesses and jailhouse informants who had incentives to help prosecutors. He said calls, checks and personal associations did not establish what Alfortish knew or prove he ordered a killing. Clarke also argued the government did not produce a recording, text message or email directly documenting a murder-for-hire order.
Jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon after hearing the closing arguments.
Late on September 1, jurors asked for a hard copy or digital street map of greater New Orleans. Today, Vitter denied the request with the agreement of prosecutors and defense attorneys, telling jurors: “The court cannot provide you with a map that is not admitted into evidence. You must decide the case based on the evidence before you.”
The indictment includes charges of conspiracy to commit witness tampering through murder, witness tampering through murder, conspiracy to retaliate against a witness through murder, retaliation against a witness through murder and causing death through use of a firearm. Alfortish also faces fraud-related counts tied to the staged-collision allegations. The murder-related counts carry potential life sentences.
