A group of people from Louisiana staged car wrecks in which a driver would intentionally collide with semitractor-trailer trucks in order to collect settlement money, authorities said.
The group scammed thousands of dollars from insurance companies, commercial carriers and trucking companies over the years, court documents show.
Now, a woman involved in the scheme faces up to five years in prison, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana.
Latrell Johnson, 30, of New Orleans, pleaded guilty on March 16 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
The scheme began in 2015 when two men began staging car collisions in exchange for payment from a law firm, court documents obtained by McClatchy News show.
A driver, or “slammer,” would drive the vehicle and intentionally collide with 18-wheelers, while the “spotter” would follow them in a separate vehicle and pick them up after the staged accidents to flee the scene, authorities said.
On May 11, 2017, Johnson agreed with three others to serve as passengers while a “slammer” drove a Ford Expedition with the intent to cause a collision with a semitractor-trailer.
Michael William Boleware, Johnson’s defense attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy.
At around 10 a.m. that day, the slammer intentionally collided with an International 18-wheeler. He then fled the scene and one of the passengers got into the driver’s seat. He then told New Orleans Police Department officers that he drove the vehicle and that the truck driver caused the crash, court documents show.
After discussing the crash with attorneys and the false police report was made, Johnson and the other passengers filed a personal injury lawsuit in May 9, 2018, with false allegations about the 2017 crash, authorities said.
One of the passengers even underwent surgery on her back even though she was not injured in the collision. Johnson and others received advances on their settlements, prosecutors said.
In December 2018, passengers mailed a settlement check for Johnson in the amount of $7,000 via the U.S. Postal Service. Another check for approximately $130,000 was mailed to a co-conspirator in New Orleans, court documents show.
Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16 and besides prison time, she faces a fine up to $250,000, a special assessment of $100,000 and supervised release of up to three years, the news release states.
Her guilty plea brings the number of people convicted in “Operation Sideswipe” to 31, according to the news release.
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