Ahead of murder trial, accused triggerman pleads guilty to orchestrating staged wrecks
WWL, By Danny Monteverde, May 12, 2026
Leon “Chunky” Parker admits to staging accidents. Prosecutors say he was the trigger man responsible for deadly shooting of federal witness.
NEW ORLEANS – Leon “Chunky” Parker sat shackled in an orange jumpsuit and answered directly when U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Vitter asked why he appeared before her Tuesday morning.
“To take responsibility for the crimes I have admitted to,” he said.
Vitter asked what crimes those were.
“Staging accidents, ma’am,” Parker responded.
A short time later, Parker pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and wire fraud, the latest defendant to fall in a sprawling staged-accident scheme first brought to light by WWL Louisiana in 2019.
Parker, 52, is accused of being a so-called “slammer,” someone who intentionally caused collisions.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Payne told Vitter that a limited factual basis showed Parker staged four accidents and filed phony lawsuits and insurance claims between January 2016 and December 2021.
Payne described the rearraignment as an “unusual situation.”
“Everything is what it is,” Parker said of the accusations.
Vitter told Parker that each of the three charges he pleaded guilty to could carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She added that there could also be restitution to victims, including trucking companies and insurance companies.
He told the judge he understood as a small audience including his wife and attorney Lynda Van Davis, who is representing attorney Jason Giles, another defendant in the case, watched the proceedings.
Despite Monday’s guilty pleas, Parker’s legal troubles are not over.
He is set to stand trial in August alongside co-defendant Sean Alfortish. Both men are charged with conspiring to have Cornelius Garrison — a scammer-turned-federal witness — murdered just days after he was named in a federal indictment.
Prosecutors allege Alfortish ordered the killing and that Parker, who said he was once a sous chef in cafeteria of the former Freeport-McMoRan building in the Central Business District, carried it out.
Vitter asked if Parker’s decision to plead guilty to the fraud charges was part of a deal between him and the feds.
Stephen Haedicke, Parker’s attorney, and Payne confirmed that there is no deal.
Asked after the hearing why Parker changed his plea, Haedicke said he could not comment because of the pending trial for his client and Alfortish.
Vitter said she would not set a sentencing date for Parker until after that trial concluded. She then ordered him back to the St. Tammany Parish jail where he is being held in the meantime.
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