Former New Orleans lawyer gets prison for staged crash scheme
Danny Patrick Keating Jr. was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a staged auto accident scheme. (Shutterstock)
A federal judge in New Orleans has sentenced a personal injury attorney to two years and eight months in prison for staging auto collisions and then filing lawsuits over them to try and collect settlements.
Law360 reported Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown of the Eastern District of Louisiana sentenced Danny Patrick Keating Jr. after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Citing an Oct. 16 statement from U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle’s office, Law360 reported that Keating, who has resigned from practicing law, must also complete three years of supervised release, repay $657,405 in restitution and pay a $100 special assessment fee.
According to Law360, Keating was indicted in November 2020 and entered his guilty plea in June 2021, admitting that he paid an associate to stage 31 accidents involving large trucks. Keating admitted filing suits in Louisiana state and federal courts on behalf of those clients and that his clients gave false testimony during depositions.
According to prosecutors, Keating represented 77 plaintiffs tied to the crashes and resolved claims in 17 of the 31 incidents, collecting about $1.5 million in settlements and $358,000 in fees.
So far, 63 defendants have been charged in the broader federal investigation into staged collisions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Law360 said it reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, as well as Keating’s lawyer, Brian J. Capitelli of Capitelli & Wicker, but did not get a response.
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