The New Orleans mayor was indicted Friday and accused of multiple charges linked to an alleged relationship with a member of her security detail.
Cantrell is facing charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, false statements, obstruction of justice and false declaration before a grand jury.
Former New Orleans Police Department officer Jeffrey Vappie is also facing new allegations in the indictment.
The indictment alleges that Cantrell and Vappie used an app called WhatsApp to hide their communications.
WhatsApp is an encrypted messaging and video calling app. The app is meant to be private.
According to the indictment, Cantrell and Vappie are accused of exchanging more than 15,000 messages.
Both are accused of deleting those messages.
The indictment outlines a specific exchange between Vappie and Cantrell during a trip to Washington, D.C.
The message read, “another great trip, and also another leg on our journey” and told Cantrell that he loved her and their “physical relationship.”
On Sept. 25, 2022, Cantrell sent Vappie a message via WhatsApp that said, “The times when we are truly alone (traveling) is what spoils me the most.”
One message shares a picture of what appears to be Mayor Cantrell’s hand featuring a ring.
The message read, “Hey, did you tell (redacted) that you put a ring on it?”
In October 2022, another message showed a conversation where the two discussed sweeping the then-city-owned Pontalba Apartment for recording devices.
Vappie is also accused of making an online search about how secure WhatsApp was.
Cantrell is accused of using a setting in the app called “disappearing messages” on a thred between her and Vappie on her personal cellphone.
The indictment alleges that between October 2022 and January 2023, Cantrell manually deleted thousands of WhatsApp messages she exchanged with Vappie.
For more on the indictment, click here.
READ MORE:Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Jeffrey Vappie accused of deleting thousands of WhatsApp messages
