Danette Colbert received 60 years in prison and Rickey White received 45 years after their convictions in a scheme targeting visitors.
GRETNA, LA — Two people convicted in a yearslong scheme to drug and rob visitors in the New Orleans area were sentenced Monday to decades in prison in a case tied to the death of sports reporter Adan Manzano while he was covering the 2025 Super Bowl.
Judge Nancy Miller of Louisiana’s 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Danette Colbert, 49, to 50 years for racketeering and 10 years for negligent homicide, with the terms to run consecutively for a total of 60 years. Rickey White, 35, received 45 years for racketeering. A Jefferson Parish jury convicted both defendants of racketeering on Sept. 17. Colbert was also convicted of negligent homicide in Manzano’s death, while White was acquitted of manslaughter.
Manzano, 27, was a Kansas City-area sports reporter who traveled to Louisiana to cover Super Bowl LIX. He was found dead Feb. 5, 2025, in his hotel room in Kenner, a New Orleans suburb, several days before the game. Prosecutors said Colbert was the last known person with him and later used his stolen credit card. Authorities determined that Manzano died after ingesting alcohol and alprazolam, the generic form of Xanax, which left him unable to breathe while lying face down.
Prosecutors said Manzano became the final known victim of a criminal operation that had targeted men in New Orleans tourism areas for years. According to prosecutors and court records, Colbert and others would meet men and accompany them to hotel rooms, where victims were given sedatives before money and other property were stolen. White provided support for the operation, prosecutors said.
Evidence presented in the case included messages among Colbert, White and another man, Christian Anderson, that prosecutors said documented the operation over a period of years. Anderson cooperated with investigators and testified against Colbert and White after his charges were reduced. Court records show he pleaded guilty to simple robbery and access device fraud and received a six-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors initially sought manslaughter convictions against both Colbert and White in connection with Manzano’s death. Jurors instead convicted Colbert of negligent homicide and acquitted White of manslaughter. Both were convicted of racketeering. The verdicts followed about five hours of jury deliberations.
Members of Manzano’s family addressed the court before the sentences were imposed, describing the loss to a family that had already experienced another tragedy. Manzano’s wife had died in a vehicle crash before his death, leaving the couple’s young daughter without either parent. His parents and cousins asked the court to impose severe sentences and spoke about Manzano’s career and his move from Mexico to pursue work in television journalism in the United States.
Manzano worked as a reporter and anchor for Telemundo Kansas City and also covered sports through Tico Sports. His assignment in Louisiana centered on the Kansas City Chiefs’ appearance in Super Bowl LIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. He died before he could cover the game.
Colbert was already serving a 25-year sentence stemming from fraud and theft convictions in Orleans Parish. The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office said Miller ordered the new sentences to run consecutively to that existing term. Colbert is scheduled to return to court Oct. 14 for proceedings under Louisiana’s habitual offender law, which could affect the amount of prison time she faces.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 29, 2026.