New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted by a federal grand jury – highly unusual for a sitting mayor (it’s never happened before in New Orleans!). Former officer on her protection detail, and alleged affair partner, Jeffrey Paul Vappie II, was also indicted.
Prosecutors allege that they started a romantic relationship in fall 2021, and that they falsified timecards and engaged in payroll fraud. They also appear to have taken lavish trips on taxpayer funds.
They are charged with,
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 USC § 371) — both Cantrell and Vappie.
- Conspiracy to obstruct justice (18 USC § 1512(k)) — both.
- Multiple counts of wire fraud — Vappie on 12 counts, Cantrell on six of those counts.
- False statement to the FBI — Vappie.
- Obstruction of justice (18 USC § 1512(c)(1)) — Cantrell.
- False declarations before a grand jury (perjury — 18 USC § 1623) — Cantrell (two counts).
There were at least 14 trips funded by the city, including wine-tasting in Napa, visits to San Francisco, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Orlando, Scotland, and the UAE — costing $47,000 to $70,000. They also took staycations at a city-owned apartment. Plus, her French Riviera trip alone apparently cost $50,000.
Receipts show the upgraded flights cost more than $9,800 per person. Flight records provided for Sanga were limited.
While in France, Cantrell and her team stayed at the Villa Victoria. The mayor stayed in a superior room with a double bed at $552 per night. The rest of her team stayed in a superior room with twin beds for $529 per night.
In her defense, she’s previously claimed that she has to fly in premium cabins because coach travel is unsafe for black women.
Cantrell is term-limited out in January 2026. A federal trial could take years, and unless convicted, Cantrell may complete her term. She has denied any wrongdoing, saying her relationship with Vappie was strictly professional. She was previously linked to a corruption case involving contractor Randy Farrell, who allegedly bribed her with Saints tickets and other benefits to fire a city employee investigating permit irregularities. That indictment occurred in September 2024, listing her as “Public Official 1”.
Issues of race and gender aside, honestly I think that her claim of coach being an unsafe space should draw quite a bit of sympathy from many readers here.
That hotel rate doesn’t actually sound too ridiculous, that is assuming she had a good reason to be in France on city business in the first place. I know New Orleans has managed some one off flights from AF trying to lure service.
In her defense, what she’s accused of is small potatoes by New Orleans standards. Ray Nagin and “Dollar Bill” Jefferson would laugh. Cantrell is either bilking the public in some other large ways, or she’s as incompetent a fraudster as she is a mayor.
As long as the good citizens of New Orleans continue to vote for scum, that’s just what they’ll get and deserve !
And to be fair this applies to our entire country, even to that ‘rotting fish head’ at the top !
it’s Her and her voters that make Coach unsafe
“Issues of race and gender aside, honestly I think that her claim of coach being an unsafe space should draw quite a bit of sympathy from many readers here.”
I suppose you could say that all of the passenger compartments in an airplane are unsafe spaces, but from the reports on this blog, the more expensive seats are just as unsafe as the coach seats. That dog don’t hunt. Personally as a coach flier, I have never found the coach seats unsafe. Uncomfortable, yes, but unsafe, no.