New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted Friday in what prosecutors called a yearslong scheme to hide a romantic relationship with her bodyguard, who is accused of being paid as if he was working even when they met alone in apartments and traveled to vineyards for wine tasting.<\/p>\n
Cantrell faces charges of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction, less than five months before she leaves office due to term limits. The first female mayor in New Orleans\u2019 300-year history was elected twice but now becomes the city\u2019s first mayor to be charged while in office.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic corruption has crippled us for years and years,\u201d Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Simpson said, referring to Louisiana\u2019s notorious history. \u201cAnd this is extremely significant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cantrell\u2019s bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, was already facing charges of wire fraud and making false statements. He has pleaded not guilty. A grand jury returned an 18-count indictment Friday that added Cantrell to the case.<\/p>\n
They are accused of exchanging encrypted messages through WhatsApp to avoid detection and then deleting the conversations. The mayor and Vappie have said their relationship was strictly professional, but the indictment portrayed it as \u201cpersonal and intimate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City of New Orleans said in a statement that it was aware of the indictment and that the mayor\u2019s attorney is reviewing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil his review is complete, the City will not comment further on this matter,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Cantrell hasn\u2019t sent out a message on her official social media feed on X since July 15, when she said the city was experiencing historic declines in crime.<\/p>\n
In a WhatsApp exchange, the indictment says, Vappie reminisced about accompanying Cantrell to Scotland in October 2021, saying that was \u201cwhere it all started.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cantrell and Vappie used WhatsApp for more than 15,000 messages, including efforts to harass a citizen, delete evidence, make false statements to FBI agents, \u201cand ultimately to commit perjury before a federal grand jury,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n
They met in an apartment while Vappie claimed to be on duty, and she arranged for him to attend 14 trips, Simpson said. The trips, he added, were described by her as times \u201cwhen they were truly alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Orleans taxpayers paid more than $70,000 for Vappie\u2019s travel, the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n
Authorities cited a September 2022 rendezvous on Martha\u2019s Vineyard, a trip Cantrell took instead of attending a conference in Miami. Vappie\u2019s travel to the island was covered by the city to attend a separate conference. \u201cThe times when we are truly (traveling) is what spoils me the most,\u201d the mayor wrote to him that month.<\/p>\n
Simpson said Cantrell lied in an affidavit that she activated a function on her phone that automatically deleted messages in 2021 when she really didn\u2019t activate that feature until December 2022, a month after the media began speculating on the pair\u2019s conduct.<\/p>\n
When a private citizen took photos of them dining together and drinking wine, Cantrell filed a police report and sought a restraining order, Simpson said.<\/p>\n
Cantrell and her remaining allies have said that she has been unfairly targeted as a Black woman and held to a different standard than male officials, her executive powers at City Hall sabotaged. Simpson, however, shook off claims that any of it played a role in the investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s irrelevant that it\u2019s romance or that it\u2019s female,\u201d he told reporters, adding that the allegations were \u201can incredible betrayal of people\u2019s confidence in their own government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cantrell, a Democrat, has clashed with City Council members during a turbulent second term and survived a recall effort in 2022.<\/p>\n
In 2014, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for bribery, money laundering, fraud and tax crimes. The charges stemmed from his two terms as mayor from 2002 to 2010. He was granted supervised release from prison in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
As she heads into her final months in office, Cantrell has alienated former confidants and supporters, and her civic profile has receded. Her early achievements were eclipsed by self-inflicted wounds and bitter feuds with a hostile city council, political observers say. The mayor\u2019s role has weakened following voter-approved changes to the city\u2019s charter meant to curb her authority.<\/p>\n
The indictment of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is a significant development in the city\u2019s history, marking the first time a mayor has been charged while in office. The allegations of a romantic relationship with her bodyguard and the subsequent cover-up have raised questions about public corruption and the abuse of power. As the case unfolds, it remains to be seen how the city will respond and what the consequences will be for Cantrell and her allies.<\/p>\n
A: Cantrell faces charges of conspiracy, fraud, and obstruction.<\/p>\n
A: Vappie is Cantrell\u2019s bodyguard and is accused of being paid for his services even when he was not working. He is also accused of exchanging encrypted messages with Cantrell to avoid detection.<\/p>\n
A: Taxpayers paid more than $70,000 for Vappie\u2019s travel.<\/p>\n
A: The indictment is significant because it marks the first time a mayor of New Orleans has been charged while in office. It also raises questions about public corruption and the abuse of power.<\/p>\n
A: The case is ongoing, and it remains to be seen how the city will respond and what the consequences will be for Cantrell and her allies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Orleans Mayor Indicted in Romantic Relationship Scandal New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted Friday in what prosecutors called a yearslong scheme to hide a romantic relationship with her bodyguard, who is accused of being paid as if he was working even when they met alone in apartments and traveled to vineyards for wine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":11477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-reports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/KDOME5JX5VDHLCXYVL6O2BGPLI.jpg?auth=edfe19e0a53ebfabf3dcc073f5edd0824f421c9f6becb0dcc0992f54ee92482e&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11475"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11478,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11475\/revisions\/11478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}