Ryan J. Harris, aka ‘Red’, 36, of New Orleans, has pled guilty 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 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 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 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 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 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.
