New Orleans Mayor Indicted in Alleged Fraud Scheme Linked to Bodyguard Affair

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted on Friday, August 15, 2025, by a federal grand jury in what prosecutors allege was a years-long scheme to conceal a personal relationship with her former bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie. The charges—spanning conspiracy, fraud, and obstruction—were announced less than five months before Cantrell is due to leave office due to term limits, making her the city’s first mayor ever indicted while in office.

Federal prosecutors say Cantrell and Vappie, who has faced wire fraud and false statement charges since last year, engaged in a plot to defraud city taxpayers. Vappie allegedly falsified payroll records, claiming he was on duty while the couple met in private apartments and traveled together, including luxury visits to California vineyards, the UAE, and Scotland. Altogether, Cantrell is accused of misusing around $70,000 in municipal funds by disguising such excursions as official city business.

Court documents detail how Cantrell and Vappie exchanged over 15,000 encrypted messages to avoid detection and routinely deleted their conversations. The relationship reportedly began in October 2021, with prosecutors presenting evidence such as affectionate notes and photographs of the pair on trips. Despite mounting accusations, both parties have publicly maintained that their relationship is strictly professional.

Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Simpson described their conduct as a “three-year fraud scheme,” saying, “Public corruption has crippled us for years and years. This is extremely significant”. Simpson asserts Cantrell lied in a 2021 affidavit regarding her phone’s message-deletion function, allegedly activating the feature only after media investigations intensified in late 2022. When a private citizen photographed the pair dining and drinking wine, Cantrell filed a police report and sought a restraining order.

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Cantrell’s attorney stated Friday that they had not yet received a copy of the indictment. The mayor’s office has not issued a public statement, nor has Cantrell updated her official social media accounts since July 15, where she touted historic declines in city crime.

As Cantrell’s final term draws to a close in January, her tenure’s early achievements have been overshadowed by serial controversies, including bitter disputes with a resistant city council, a failed recall effort in 2022, and newly diminished executive powers after charter changes approved by voters. Observers note her civic profile has dramatically waned amid these crises.

Cantrell and her remaining allies say she has been unfairly targeted and held to a “different standard” because she is a Black woman in power, but federal prosecutors have dismissed claims of bias, emphasizing instead the betrayal of public trust. Political figures and council members, including Monet Brignac, have described it as “a sad day for the people of New Orleans,” expressing sympathy for the Cantrell family as they confront these challenges.

If convicted, Cantrell and Vappie could face decades in prison, marking a historic and dramatic end to her period as New Orleans’ first female mayor.