New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has been charged with wire fraud and obstruction of justice, making her the first sitting mayor in the city’s history to face a federal indictment.
Ms. Cantrell is alleged to have defrauded the city in order to maintain and conceal a romantic relationship with a police officer.
She and New Orleans police officer Jeffrey Vappie are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements before a grand jury, according to an indictment filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Ms. Cantrall was married at the time of the affair to Jason Cantrell, an attorney who passed away in August 2023.
The mayor’s attorney, Eddie Castaing, “recently received the information, and is thoroughly reviewing the document,” read a statement from city officials provided to NOLA.com. “Until his review is complete, the City will not comment further on this matter.”
Prosecutors allege that Ms. Cantrell and Mr. Vappie began a three-year relationship in October 2021 and exploited their respective positions up until the police officer’s retirement in June 2025.
Mr. Vappie, a member of the mayor’s Executive Protection Unit, allegedly collected his salary and claimed he was on duty when he was engaged in personal activities and rendezvous with Ms. Cantrell.
While the city and police department were unknowingly footing the bill, the couple exchanged more than 15,000 encrypted messages, photos, and audio recordings on WhatsApp over an eight-month period to coordinate a cover-up as an investigation of their activities intensified, according to the charges.
“To hide their relations from detection and to maximize their time together, Cantrell and Vappie exploited their public positions to develop and implement a scheme to defraud the city of New Orleans and the New Orleans Police Department by engaging in personal activities while Vappie claimed to be on duty and was paid for,” the indictment reads.
They were also alleged to have intimidated subordinates and systematically lied to colleagues and federal agents, according to the indictment, which claimed that they destroyed evidence and committed perjury in an affidavit and during sworn testimony.
If convicted, they could each face as much as 20 years in prison for some of the counts outlined in the indictment.
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