A woman involved in a New Orleans criminal enterprise that targeted tourists and led to the death of a reporter has been resentenced to life.

On Wednesday, a Jefferson Parish judge resentenced 49-year old Danette Colbert to life in prison plus 75 years under Louisiana’s habitual offender. In September, Colbert was sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison, 50 years for racketeering and a consecutive 10 years for negligent homicide in the death of Adan Manzano, a journalist for the Spanish-language news outlet Telemundo Kansas City.

“The court is going to find that Ms Colbert is at least a fourth felony offender,” judge Nancy Miller of the 24th judicial district court said during Colbert’s resentencing.

Last February, Manzano had traveled to the New Orleans area to cover the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl clash with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was found dead in his hotel room in Kenner, Louisiana, days before the game.

The Jefferson parish coroner’s office said Manzano died from positional asphyxiation. An autopsy found Xanax and alcohol in his system.

Prosecutors said Manzano was among the victims of a years-long operation in which Colbert, her accomplice Rickey White, and a co-defendant who testified against them – Christian Anderson – targeted unsuspecting tourists in the city’s French Quarter. The group allegedly lured victims with the promise of sex before drugging and robbing them.

Prosecutors said the criminal enterprise dated back to 2012.

As prosecutors sought to enhance Colbert’s 10-year sentence, they cited six prior felony cases, including 2024 convictions in New Orleans for computer fraud and illegal money transfers that resulted in a 25-year sentence as a habitual offender.

Her criminal record also includes convictions for fraud, stolen property, burglary, theft, battery and witness intimidation dating from 2013 to 2019.

Fingerprint analysis by the Jefferson Parish sheriff’s office confirmed Colbert’s identity in all six cases. Prosecutors needed to establish only three prior convictions to enhance her sentence.

“We believe that sufficient evidence has been presented” to show Colbert was the person convicted in the previous cases, assistant district attorney Jenny Voss told Miller.

Colbert’s life sentence will be served consecutively to her 50-year sentence for racketeering and a 25-year sentence for unrelated crimes in New Orleans, the Jefferson Parish district attorney’s office said.