They Staged Wrecks With Tractor-Trailers Equating To $140,000 In Insurance Costs. Now, They're Paying The Price.

Four people who staged automobile accidents to get insurance money were sentenced for their fraudulent actions this week.

The United States Attorney's Office in the eastern district of Louisiana announced that Stacie Wheaten, 51, of Fairburn, Georgia, David Brown, 51, of Morgan City, Louisiana, Gilda Henderson, 70, of Morgan City, and Latrell Johnson, 30, of New Orleans, received sentences for their involvement in the scheme.

According to court records, Wheaten introduced "slammer" Damian Labeaud to attorney Patrick Keating in 2017. Keating agreed to pay Labeaud for staged automobile wrecks.

Wheaten recruited passengers to participate in the scheme with tractor-trailers in New Orleans, including incidents on May 17, 2017, and June 5, 2017. The passengers involved filed fraudulent lawsuits stating that the tractor-trailers were at fault.

Brown, Henderson and Johnson each served as passengers on May 11, 2017, court records state. Each of them then filed false police reports, lied in depositions and/or filed fraudulent lawsuits claiming the tractor-trailers were at fault.

As a result, the insurance company for the tractor-trailer involved in the May 11, 2017, wreck paid out more than $140,000 in settlement funds.

Wheaten was sentenced to a year and a half in prison and two years of supervised release, while Brown, Henderson and Johnson were given three years of probabion. Those three also were ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution.