The New Orleans Mayor has been indicted on federal charges tied to an alleged scheme to misuse more than $70,000 in taxpayer funds to maintain a secret romantic relationship with her police bodyguard.
According to court filings, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the city’s first female leader, allegedly used her office to “maximize” time with bodyguard Jeffrey Paul Vappie II.
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Alleged Romance at Taxpayer Expense
According to the indictment filed on August 15, Cantrell and Vappie became romantically involved in late 2021. Over the next year, the pair embarked on 14 trips, many billed as city business. Destinations included the United Arab Emirates, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and a California vineyard, where they were photographed together.
A trip to Scotland was “where it all started,” Vappie wrote in one of 15,000 WhatsApp messages exchanged between the two, according to prosecutors.
“Public corruption has crippled us for years and years,” Michael Simpson, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, said at a news conference. “This is extremely significant.”
Charges Against Cantrell and Vappie
The charges against Mayor Cantrell include conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements, and obstruction of justice. Vappie, who first joined the police force in 1997, was indicted earlier in July 2024 on wire fraud charges tied to billing false hours—including those spent at Cantrell’s French Quarter apartment. He has pleaded not guilty.
