Doniesha Gibson, Wire Fraud, Louisiana 2022

Two New Orleans area women have been sentenced for their roles in a scheme to stage automobile collisions and defraud insurance and trucking companies.

Doniesha Gibson, 31, and Erica Lee Thompson, 47, both of whom were living in the New Orleans area, were sentenced for their involvement in staged automobile collisions with tractor-trailers occurring in New Orleans.

According to court documents, Gibson and Thompson, along with their co-conspirators and others, conspired to commit wire fraud in connection with staged accidents, including two that occurred on October 15, 2015, and September 6, 2017.

Gibson admitted to being a passenger in a staged accident on October 15, 2015, in which her former co-defendant intentionally drove a 2014 Dodge Avenger owned by Gibson into a Hotard bus while traveling on the I-10 near the flyover of the I-510. Gibson retained an attorney and thereafter made a claim for damages. The total settlement for the Hotard bus accident was approximately $677,500.00.

Thompson admitted that on September 6, 2017, on the I-10 near the Almonaster exit, she was a passenger in a 2015 RAV4 being driven by their former co-defendant, when he intentionally crashed into a tractor-trailer owned by Averitt Express. Thompson retained counsel and made a claim for damages. The total settlement for the Averitt accident was $30,000.

In total, the victim trucking, bus, and insurance companies paid out approximately $707,500.00 for these two fraudulent claims orchestrated by the defendants and others.

United States District Judge Sarah S. Vance sentenced Gibson to seventeen (17) months incarceration, followed by a three(3) year term of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $677,500.00, and a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee. Thompson was sentenced to three (3) years probation, restitution in the amount of $121,076.75, 100 hours of community service, and a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisiana State Police, and the Metropolitan Crime Commission with this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit; Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera; Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Carboni; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Long.

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