Colbert was sentenced to 60 years for negligent homicide and racketeering in Manzano's death.

A sentence after conviction is the court's judgment on the counts the jury found. It is not a new verdict. On Monday morning, Sept. 28, 2026, Judge Nancy Miller sentenced Danette Colbert of Slidell, Louisiana, in Jefferson Parish District Court to 10 years for negligent homicide and 50 years for racketeering, a total of 60 years, consecutive to each other and consecutive to any other sentence she is already serving. Adan Manzano, 27, a sideline reporter for KGKC-TV, the Kansas City Telemundo affiliate, died in February 2025 at a Comfort Suites in Kenner while in New Orleans covering the Super Bowl.

An autopsy found asphyxiation, face-down on a pillow, from the combined toxic effects of alcohol and alprazolam, also known as Xanax. Colbert was convicted of negligent homicide and of racketeering for a theft scheme. Co-defendant Rickey White, 35, was acquitted in Manzano's death and found guilty of racketeering, and he was sentenced to 45 years. A third co-defendant, Christian Anderson, 35, pleaded to lesser charges and testified. White's acquittal on the death is a judgment on that count. His racketeering sentence is the judgment on the count the jury found.

Trial evidence described French Quarter targeting of tourists with sedatives called knockout or K.O. Colbert was last seen exiting Manzano's hotel room. A search of her Slidell home found alprazolam plus Manzano's phone, credit card, and hotel key. Those are the facts the trial put behind the convictions. They are not a new finding entered at sentencing.

Colbert was previously convicted in Orleans Parish in a similar 2021 Bourbon Street case, the David Butler case, and she was resentenced to 25 years in May 2025 as a habitual offender. Judge Miller cited an aggravating criminal history and a pattern of targeting and drugging tourists. The 60-year term, consecutive to any other sentence she is already serving, is the judgment on the negligent-homicide and racketeering convictions.