New Orleans staged wrecks: New trial date set for murder charges

WDSU, By Erin Lowrey, September 17, 2026

A new trial date has been set in the New Orleans staged wrecks case in which a jury reached a partial verdict.

Disbarred attorney Sean Alfortish and accused hitman Leon Parker will be retried on murder charges in June 2027.

Jurors were deadlocked on the counts when Alfortish and Parker went to trial in August, leading to a mistrial.

Alfortish was convicted on fraud charges, and Parker took a plea deal on charges related to the staged wrecks scheme.

Background:
Disbarred attorney Sean Alfortish and accused hitman Leon Parker were on trial for nearly four weeks related to the 2020 killing of federal witness Cornelius Garrison in the staged wrecks investigation.

Alfortish was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, one count of obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. The jury could not reach a verdict on the charges of conspiracy to commit witness tampering through murder, retaliation against a witness through murder, or causing death through use of a firearm. He was found not guilty of obstruction of justice and subornation of perjury.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on Parker's 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.

Garrison was killed in 2020 at the Columbia Park subdivision in Gentilly. He was cooperating with the federal government after working for years setting up staged wrecks.

WDSU first exposed the scheme in 2018; since then, 63 people have been charged and more than 50 have pleaded guilty.

Two prominent lawyers were convicted in the scheme in March: Vanessa Motta, and Jason Giles.

Prosecutors say the alleged fraud, dating back to 2011, has fueled Louisiana’s sky-high auto insurance rates, which are some of the highest in the country.

Both Alfortish and Parker are being remanded pending sentencing and a retrial.

Vitter ended the proceedings by acknowledging Alfortish and Parker directly.

"The final thing I will say and hopefully this doesn't sound sarcastic, you had a fair trial, and you were represented by excellent attorneys, and I'll leave it at that," Vitter said. "Can't say I enjoyed it, but you earned my respect."

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