New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell speaks to an audience at the Andrew P. Sanchez Multi-Service Center in the Lower 9th Ward on Feb. 16, 2023. She joined other officials to announce the end of the Road Home program. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
NEW ORLEANS – Mayor LaToya Cantrell made history — becoming the city’s first mayor to be indicted while in office — after federal prosecutors charged her Aug. 15 with multiple counts of wire fraud, obstruction of justice and lying to a grand jury.
The 11 counts specific to Cantrell stem from an investigation into her alleged affair with former New Orleans Police Department officer Jeffrey Vappie, who worked on Cantrell’s security detail prior to his retirement from the force and has also been federally indicted…