The mayor of New Orleans has been indicted on charges stemming from an alleged scheme to use over $70,000 of city funds to keep up a clandestine relationship with a bodyguard, new court filings show.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell, first elected in 2017, used her office to “maximize” time with Jeffrey Paul Vappie II, a bodyguard the two-term mayor became romantically involved with in October 2021, according to an indictment filed on Friday, Aug. 15. Cantrell spent tens of thousands of dollars on trips with Vappie under the guise of official business, the indictment says.
The two went on 14 trips together that were considered New Orleans business, the indictment says. Destinations included the United Arab Emirates, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Among photos in court filings is one of them at a California vineyard. {snip}
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The federal charges against Cantrell include conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements and obstruction of justice, court filings show.
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Vappie, who first joined the city police force in 1997, was assigned to Cantrell’s detail from May 2021 to November 2022 and from June 2023 to April 2024, months before being indicted on July 19 of that year, court filings say. Vappie’s lawyer said his client chose to retire.
Cantrell and Vappie incurred significant expenses over the course of the trips and Vappie earned overtime hours. During an Aug. 21, 2022, trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with an official for one hour, they incurred $3,000 in expenses and Vappie made an additional $1,120 in overtime, the indictment says.
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Prosecutors say the $70,000 refers to the amount the city spent on Vappie during his trips with Cantrell. The indictment doesn’t cover how much the city spent on Cantrell.
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Among measures, they intimidated and punished subordinates, lied, and deleted digital evidence, court filings say.
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When New Orleans media outlets published photos of the mayor and the bodyguard together in November 2022, Cantrell made public statements denying they had a physical or romantic relationship.
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