News of convictions and guilty pleas have slowed recently in the accident staging ring involving tractor-trailers in the New Orleans area. Most recently, the U.S. Attorney announced that John Diggs of Thibodeaux, Louisiana, and James Williams of Gibson, Louisiana, were both sentenced on February 14, 2023 to 10 months in prison after they pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud. In their guilty plea, they admitted to conspiring with two other passengers to stage an accident with a tractor-trailer at the intersection of Chef Menteur Highway and Downman Road. They admitted that Damien Labeaud and Roderick Hickman, who had previously pled guilty to staging other accidents, also participated in the accident.

Thus far, only one attorney has pled guilty to crimes in connection with the accident staging ring, although several other attorneys have been implicated. It remains to be seen whether the government is working slowly with cooperating witnesses to eventually bring down more high-profile defendants.

Read previous MBLB articles on the Tractor-Trailer Accident Staging Ring >