New Orleans Attorney Indicted, Faces Bond Violation for Gambling
New Orleans attorney Vanessa Motta, indicted for a scheme to stage vehicle crashes for insurance fraud, is now accused of violating her bond conditions by gambling at Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi.
Federal prosecutors have requested that a judge revoke Motta's $25,000 bond, citing her unauthorized out-of-state trips that resulted in gambling expenditures totaling over $100,000 since her indictment in December. According to court records, Motta misled her Pretrial Services officer about the nature of her travels, sometimes disguising them as family outings.
In addition, prosecutors noted that Motta visited the casino over 50 times since January 2020, losing $836,401.81 in total on slot machines. The extravagant spending raises concerns about the accuracy of her financial disclosure to her attorney, who had previously claimed she was facing financial hardships.
Motta's legal counsel asserts that her bond conditions did not explicitly prohibit gambling. In her defense, Motta's mother stated she was responsible for the gambling funds, alleging several solo trips to the casino using Motta's rewards card.
Motta and her fiancée, disbarred attorney Sean Alfortish, face federal charges related to staging wrecks for insurance payouts and are implicated in a plot to murder Cornelius Garrison, a crucial witness in the case. Garrison was shot in 2020 and previously reported to the FBI about his connections to the attorneys involved.
A bond revocation hearing is scheduled for August 13.