Source: Office of United States Attorneys
NEW ORLEANS –The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced that RYAN J. HARRIS, a/k/a “Red,” (“HARRIS”), age 36, of New Orleans, pled guilty today before United States District Judge Wendy B. Vitter to a three-count superseding bill of information.
Count One charged him with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341, 1343, and 1349. Count Two charged him with wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and 2. Count Three charged him with causing death through the use of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 924(j) and 2.
According to court filings, HARRIS admitted to acting as a “slammer” in a scheme in which he and his co-conspirators intentionally staged automobile collisions in the New Orleans metropolitan area. As a slammer, HARRIS drove automobiles and intentionally collided them with 18-wheeler tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles in order to stage these collisions. After the collisions, the slammers fled the scene, and a passenger would falsely claim to have been the driver during the collision. Thereafter, the passengers, who had been recruited to be part of the scheme, would file false insurance claims. HARRIS then referred these passengers to attorneys, also a part of the scheme, who then filed fraudulent lawsuits on the passengers’ behalf. HARRIS also admitted to aiding and abetting in the murder of a cooperating federal witness, Cornelius Garrison. Garrison, a slammer who had been covertly cooperating with federal agents since October 2019 regarding the staged automobile collision scheme, was shot outside of his home in New Orleans on September 22, 2020.
As to each of Counts One and Two, HARRIS faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years, a fine of up to $250,000.00, or twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss to any person, up to three (3) years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. As to Count Three, HARRIS faces a maximum term of life imprisonment or death, a fine of up to $250,000.00, or twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss to any person, up to five (5) years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. As set forth in the plea agreement in this matter, HARRIS and the government agreed to a total sentence of 35 years in prison, pursuant to Rule 11(c)(1)(C) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Judge Vitter scheduled HARRIS’s sentencing for September 23, 2025.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, would like to acknowledge the tremendous work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation New Orleans Field Office, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Louisiana State Police with this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew R. Payne; Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit; Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Katherine Kaufman; and Trial Attorney J. Ryan McLaren of the U.S. Department of Justice – Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section.