New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted today by a federal jury on 18 charges, including false declaration before a grand jury, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and wire fraud. The FBI has connected most of the charges to Cantrell trying to cover up an affair with a city police department bodyguard since 2021. Cantrell is the first mayor of the city to be indicted on federal charges while in office.
This is a superseding indictment related to an indictment of former New Orleans Police Department bodyguard, Jeffery Vappie. 11 of the charges brought against Cantrell in the 45-page document are attached to Vappie, and the other seven are Vappie’s charges alone. Vappie, who was charged last year with wire fraud and false statement counts was also indicted today by a federal grand jury. The false statement counts include lies about Vappie’s relationship with Cantrell, which are allegedly related to an extramarital affair between the two.
The FBI said it found 15,000 messages on WhatsApp between the two, which have been included in conspiracy charges against the mayor. The indictment today reveals that Cantrell was also brought to the federal jury last year as a part of Vappie’s investigation, and that she did not submit all of the evidence she was subpoenaed for.
Some of the evidence brought forward by the FBI from the messages between Cantrell and Vappie aims to connect the city-funded work trips the two took together as a cover-up for the couple’s vacations. According to the messages, Washington D.C. and Napa Valley in California were included among these trips. The document said Vappie submitted around $2,400 in expenses to Cantrell for the trip to San Francisco, and around $1,300 in expenses for D.C., both of which Cantrell approved. They also took international trips to Scotland and the United Arab Emirates, according to the document.
There is a question of whether these trips and the amount of money spent on them are completely usable in this case. Because Vappie was Cantrell’s security, the travel expenses used on these trips may be justified. Or at least the total amount calculated—$70,000 in city funds—could be inflated when the reasons for the expenses are taken into account.
Evidence of the affair taking place in New Orleans was documented as well. Also outlined in the charges are the duo’s use of the city-owned Upper Pontalba apartment as a shared residence, calling it “our apartment” in the messages. When photographs were taken and shared of the couple dining outdoors at a restaurant by a New Orleans resident, the FBI alleges Cantrell used non-public information to get a temporary restraining order against them.
One of the more shocking elements of the document is that Cantrell and Vappie were apparently warned to shut down the affair around the time of the couple’s trip to the Napa Valley in 2022. Another member of Vappie’s unit, the Executive Protection Unit, sent a message to the entire unit saying that if anyone is having an affair with Cantrell they should stop because the consequences would be detrimental to the EPU and Cantrell. Both Vappie and Cantrell confronted the EPU member who sent the message, and Vappie denied the affair.
In other messages, an associate of Cantrell wrote to her over text, “It is a FELONY to have your lover be paid to work and have his travel paid for by the city. The Nashville mayor had to pay back 50k and serve 3 yrs probation. She is done! Please don’t let this be your path, LaToya!” The associate was referring to the former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who admitted to having an affair with her head of security, Sgt. Robert Forrest in 2018. Cantrell responded to the associate, “Please don’t accuse me.”
Before Cantrell, former mayor Ray Nagin was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2013, three years after he left office. Nagin was later convicted on charges of wire fraud, federal bribery, money laundering, conspiracy, and tax charges.
Cantrell is the first female mayor of New Orleans. Running and winning as a Democrat, she served her first term in 2018 and won reelection in 2021. The race for the next mayor of New Orleans is underway, and the election will be held in October.
