New Orleans mayor defrauded taxpayers with bodyguard romance

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is facing federal charges for allegedly orchestrating a scheme with her bodyguard — Jeffrey Vappie, with whom she had a romantic relationship — to defraud the city of more than $70,000. The 18-count indictment includes charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.

Secret relationship

“In or around October 2021, Cantrell and Vappie developed a personal and intimate relationship,” reads the indictment. “To hide their relationship 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, providing protection for Cantrell.” 

Travel scheme 

As part of the scheme, Cantrell allegedly arranged for Vappie to accompany her on out-of-state trips, “falsely” citing safety concerns as justification for his attendance. Investigators say the mayor took Vappie on at least 14 taxpayer-funded trips including to Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Scotland and the United Arab Emirates. Vappie’s travel, lodging, meals, salary and other expenses were charged to the city — separate from Cantrell’s own costs.

The text messages 

The indictment cites more than 15,000 WhatsApp messages exchanged between Cantrell and Vappie between February and October 2022. In one text, Vappie called the October 2021 trip to Scotland “where it all started.” In another, after Cantrell offered to bring him to Washington, D.C., he responded, “Good, got it. We need this.” Cantrell replied, “Boy do we need this.” After their getaway, Vappie described it as “another great trip, and also another leg on our journey.” The indictment also says he professed love for Cantrell and referenced their “physical relationship.”

Additional accusations 

Prosecutors say the pair also used a city-owned apartment for personal purposes. Vappie allegedly spent time there during work hours, both alone and with the mayor. “Aware their conduct violated rules, policies and criminal laws, Cantrell and Vappie attempted to distract and impede inquiries and investigations, including a federal grand jury investigation, about the true nature and circumstances of their relationship and their scheme to defraud,” the indictment stated. “They did this by using an encrypted messaging platform, intimidating and punishing subordinates, lying to colleagues and advisors, making false public pronouncements, harassing a private individual who took pictures of them in public together, deleting electronic evidence, making false statements to federal law enforcement agents, authoring an affidavit signed under oath and penalty of perjury containing false information, and testifying falsely while under oath before a federal grand jury.”

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