New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell has been indicted becoming the first sitting mayor in New Orleans history to be indicted.
Cantrell has been indicted on 18 federal charges including conspiracy, wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, false statements and obstruction of justice.
According to the indictment, Cantrell and her former body guard, Jeffrey Vappie began a personal and intimate relationship in Oct. 2021.
To hide their relationship from detection, Cantrell and Vappie exploited their positions by developing and implementing a scheme to defraud the city and the New Orleans Police Department.
Documents state that they engaged in personal activities while Vappie claimed to be on duty, and was paid for providing protection to the mayor.
The pair also arranged for Vappie to accompany Cantrell on trips outside of the state on official business.
Cantrell falsely claimed she needed protection while traveling and Vappie and the Mayor orchestrated out-of-state trips to increase their opportunities to engage in personal activities.
According to documents, in total, Vappie’s trips with Mayor Cantrell cost the City of New Orleans over $70,000, separate from the mayor’s own travel cost.
According to documents, Cantrell and Vappie knew they were violating policies and criminal law and attempted to distract and impeded inquiries and investigations.
They did this by using an encrypted messaging platform, intimidating and punishing subordinates, lying to colleagues and advisors, making false public pronouncements, harassing a private individual who took pictures of them, deleting electronic evidence, making false statements to federal law enforcement, and testifying falsely while under oath before a federal grand jury.
According to documents, Cantrell and Vappie began using WhatsApp, an encrypted cellular phone messaging app in or around Feb. 2022 and around Oct. 2022, as their primary means of exchanging messages.
Vappie and Cantrell sent over 15,000 messages via WhatsApp.
In Oct. 2021, Vappie accompanied Cantrell to Scotland and he would later reminisce in a WhatsApp message to Cantrell that the Scotland trip was “where it all started.”
Between September 2021 and March 2024, Vappie accompanied Cantrell on at least 14 trips outside of Louisiana, including domestic destinations such as Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. and international destinations such as Scotland and the United Arab Emirates.
Vappie is also accused of spending time alone with Cantrell in the Pontalba apartment that Cantrell stayed in.
When the grand jury investigation began in 2023, the indictment alleges both Cantrell and Vappie lied about their relationship, specifically about gifts they gave each other.
Cantrell made public statements denying having a romantic relationship or physical relationship with Vappie in January of 2023.
On July 14, 2023, special agents with the FBI interviewed Vappie at his residence in New Orleans and made materially false statements to them.
And on June 28, 2024, Cantrell appeared before a federal grand jury and was placed under oath, where she testified falsely.
The indictment also talks about how Vappie and Cantrell, knowingly devised a scheme to defraud and obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises to the City of New Orleans.
For more on the indictment, click here.
READ MORE:New Orleans mayor indicted on multiple felonies in years-long scheme
