NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday, making her the first New Orleans mayor charged with a federal crime while still in office.
This is a superseding indictment from the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, against Jeffrey Paul Vappie, II, and Latoya Cantrell. It charges them with multiple violations, including:
- Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud
- Wire Fraud
- Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice
- Obstruction of Justice
- False Statements
- False Declarations Before a Grand Jury
The indictment alleges that Latoya Cantrell, the Mayor of New Orleans, and Jeffrey Paul Vappie, a member of her Executive Protection Unit (EPU), developed a personal relationship in October 2021. To conceal their relationship and maximize their time together, they allegedly created a scheme to defraud the City of New Orleans by engaging in personal activities while Vappie was on duty and being paid for providing protection.
As part of the scheme, it is alleged that Cantrell had Vappie accompany her on at least 14 out-of-state trips, falsely claiming she needed protection for safety concerns. These trips reportedly cost the City of New Orleans over $70,000, not including Cantrell’s own travel expenses. The indictment also claims that Vappie and Cantrell used a city-owned apartment in the Pontalba Building for personal use, with Vappie frequently spending time there while on duty.
The document states that Cantrell and Vappie took several actions to impede inquiries and a federal grand jury investigation into their relationship and scheme. These actions included:
- Using an encrypted messaging platform
- Deleting electronic evidence
- Making false statements to federal law enforcement agents and a federal grand jury
- Lying to colleagues and making false public statements
The indictment also details several specific trips and associated costs incurred by the city.
The indictment caps a federal investigation of Cantrell, first reported by WWL Louisiana in 2022. A grand jury started hearing the evidence from federal prosecutors in February 2024 and returned an indictment last September against building inspector Randy Farrell, charging him with conspiring to bribe Cantrell with about $9,000 in gifts in 2019, including NFC Championship Game tickets, a lunch at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse and a cell phone, in exchange for causing the firing of a city official who had been investigating Farrell for alleged fraud.
Cantrell was also implicated in the 2024 indictment of her former bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, who allegedly had a romantic affair with Cantrell and is charged with using that relationship to defraud the New Orleans Police Department.
Former Mayor Ray Nagin was under federal investigation during his time in office, from 2002 to 2010, but he was not indicted on corruption charges until 2013. He was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Read the full indictment below:
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