A jury has been selected to rule on the trial of a woman and man accused in the death of a Kansas City reporter killed in Kenner during the Super Bowl.
Danette Colbert and Rickey White are standing trial on manslaughter and racketeering charges in Jefferson Parish.
White was offered a plea deal in exchange for testimony. It would have given White a 30 year sentence. But White declined the deal and will now face up to 130 years in prison if convicted.
Christian Anderson, the third codefendant is considering a plea deal.
They are accused of drugging and killing Adan Manzano, 27, who was in town covering the Super Bowl.
He was found dead in a Kenner hotel room with a large amount of Xanax in his system mixed with alcohol.
Additional details:
According to court documents, Colbert, White and Anderson are accused of committing racketeering by coercing victims with sex, drugging them and then stealing their money.
Court records show the yearslong operation, highlighting 18 instances linked to the scheme.
Colbert is described as the “party girl and prostitute” in the scheme, and White is described as her “pimp” who provided security and obtained clients, according to the court documents.
Anderson is described in the documents as the coordinator for drugs and technical support in the scheme.
In some of the instances, text messages outline how Colbert, White and Anderson would communicate to coordinate the scheme. Other unnamed associates are also linked to the scheme, either through what appears to be drug coordination or drugging victims at bars.
This coordination included securing drugs, described as “knock outs” or “KO.”
In the texts, Colbert would communicate to White when she had found someone to drug, how much money they had, and when she had gained their credit cards and PINs.
Anderson appears to have coordinated through text messages, purchasing the drugs and renting cars and Airbnbs.
In some instances, Colbert would tell White that the victim’s bank accounts ranged from six figures up to a million dollars.
The text messages also indicated some type of relationship between White and Colbert, with Anderson describing White as “her pimp.”
In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, text messages show Anderson discussing the Super Bowl with an unknown person. That person describes a desire to “work” in New Orleans during the Super Bowl.
Anderson indicates that it would be “poppin” and that the city has been “trash” since the New Year’s Day terror attack.
About three weeks before the Super Bowl, Anderson reached out to Colbert to see if she needed drugs.
“You still needed KO?” Anderson asks Colbert via text messages.
“Hell yea,” Colbert responds on Jan. 15.
On Jan. 23, texts show Anderson coordinating an Airbnb for the Super Bowl with an unknown person.
On Jan. 25, Colbert discusses with White how she had to get a person she was with drunk in order to access their card information.
“I got phone code and phone and pin. Give me 20 minutes before you come…I hate I don’t have any KO,” Colbert says to White in a text.
On Feb. 4, Anderson texts Colbert about the rental car he is accused of booking for her ahead of Manzano’s death.
“They will not budge on the price cuz it’s Super Bowl weekend and rentals are in high demand,” Anderson’s text reads. Colbert indicates she will pay for it, according to the texts.
On Feb. 5, the day of Manzano’s death, Colbert sends a text message with what appears to be the PIN for Manzano’s card.
On April 27, Anderson sent a text message to an unknown person explaining that Colbert had been arrested and White had fled the state.
“Him and her was texting that night back and forth and he was helping her and he knew it so that’s why he ran his -expletive- to Florida to try to be on the run,” said Anderson. “They found him by tracking his phone. He was also telling her on the jail phone where he was going.”
The last text message Anderson sent implied he had empathy for Colbert and Manzano.
“I feel bad for her to an extent…I also feel bad for the man,” the text read in part. “To make it even worse, she did all that just to be paying Rickey and having him back as her pimp.”
Colbert and White have been previously charged with murder in connection with Manzano’s death.
Anderson is also facing charges of principal to simple robbery, purse snatching, access device fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, bank fraud and computer fraud.
READ MORE:Jury picked in trial for Danette Colbert and Rickey White
