New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted on charges linked to her “intimate” relationship with a government-funded bodyguard that allegedly cost the city over $70,000, according to the Associated Press.
Cantrell, the Big Easy’s first female mayor, who was elected in 2017 and reelected in 2021, is accused of canoodling with Jeffrey Vappie, 52, while he was on the clock.
Vappie — a former New Orleans Police Department officer and member of the politician’s executive protection team — was already facing a charge of making a false statement. He and Cantrell, 53, have since both been hit with federal charges concerning wire fraud and obstruction of justice, according to an announcement the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana.
Per the announcement, a recent superseding 18-count indictment alleges that the purported lovebirds “coordinated to spend time together” at a city-owned apartment while Vappie was on duty, arranged “14 domestic and international trips to maximize their time together” and were “aware their conduct broke criminal laws.”
Investigators also claim the city of New Orleans paid five figures for the ex-cop’s travel with his sweetie…