New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell ...

wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

CANTRELL and VAPPIE were both charged in a conspiracy to commit
wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371,
as well as a conspiracy to obstruct justice, in violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1512(k). VAPPIE is also charged with
twelve counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code,
Section 1343, and CANTRELL is charged in six of those wire fraud
counts. VAPPIE is charged with making a false statement to the FBI,
in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. CANTRELL
is charged in one count of obstruction of justice, in violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1512©(1), and two counts of making
a false declaration before a grand jury, in violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Section 1623.

According to the allegations contained in the superseding indictment,
while CANTRELL was Mayor of New Orleans and VAPPIE was a
New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officer and member of her
executive protection team, CANTRELL and VAPPIE developed a
personal, intimate relationship as early as October of 2021. From
that time until VAPPIE's retirement in June 2024, they embarked
on a scheme to defraud the City of New Orleans and NOPD by
exploiting VAPPIE's job and CANTRELL authority as Mayor to have
the City and NOPD pay VAPPIE's salary and expenses during times
VAPPIE claimed to be on duty but when he was actually engaged
in personal activities, often with CANTRELL. The allegations contained
in the superseding indictment describe the many steps that CANTRELL
and VAPPIE took to hide their scheme and perpetuate their continued
fraud, including using a secure messaging platform, WhatsApp, to
exchange over 15,000 messages, pictures, and audio clips in an
eight-month period; intimidating subordinates; harassing a citizen;
lying to colleagues and associates; deleting evidence; making
false statements to FBI agents; giving the grand jury an affidavit
signed under oath and penalty of perjury that contained numerous
false statements; and, ultimately, committing perjury before a
federal grand jury, all for the purpose of distracting and impeding
inquiries and investigations, including a federal grand jury investigation.

The superseding indictment alleges that CANTRELL and VAPPIE
perpetuated their scheme both in New Orleans and during out-of-state
trips. In both instances, VAPPIE's activities while claiming to be on
duty were conspicuously different than any other member of the
Executive Protection Unit. While in New Orleans, they treated a
city-owned apartment in the Pontalba as their personal, shared
residence and coordinated to spend time together there, engaging
in personal activities, while VAPPIE claimed to be on duty for EPU
and was paid to be doing his job. CANTRELL occasionally canceled
scheduled work events to facilitate personal and intimate interactions
with VAPPIE in the Pontalba apartment.

The superseding indictment also alleges that CANTRELL and VAPPIE
arranged for VAPPIE to accompany CANTRELL on at least 14 domestic
and international trips to maximize their time together and engage in
personal activities. In their private text messages, CANTRELL characterized
trips with VAPPIE as “times when we are truly alone” and what
“spoils me the most.” These trips included trips to San Francisco, which
VAPPIE and CANTRELL decided to extend an extra day so they could
visit a series of Napa Valley wineries. While VAPPIE was wine tasting,
on April 9, 2022, he claimed to work, and was paid for working, a 15-hour day.

In August 2022, CANTRELL said she would “make it happen” to have
VAPPIE accompany her on a 3-day trip to Washington, D.C., a trip that
they both agreed that they “needed.” Shortly after they retuned,
VAPPIE described the trip to CANTRELL as “another leg on our journey”
as he declared his love for her and their physical relationship. In total,
the City of New Orleans paid over $70,000 for VAPPIE's travel on these trips.

When asked about her reason for bringing members of the
Executive Protection Unit with her on out-of-state trips, a practice
CANTRELL began about five months after VAPPIE joined EPU,
she justified it as a “pivot” due to COVID and a matter of “safety.”
At the same time, however, she continued to take out-of-state trips
without protection. In fact, on the same day she gave one such statement,
she canceled a work trip to Miami, and traveled alone—by plane,
then bus, and then ferry—to the island of Martha’s Vineyard in
Massachusetts to spend time with VAPPIE while he attended a
conference paid for by the City of New Orleans related to his position
on the HANO Board of Commissioners—a position to which CANTRELL
appointed him a few months earlier. On other occasions, when VAPPIE
was unavailable to accompany CANTRELL on a trip, CANTRELL decided
not to take another member of Executive Protection.

The superseding indictment alleges that both VAPPIE and CANTRELL
were aware their conduct broke criminal laws. For instance,
in April 2022, an associate told CANTRELL explicitly in multiple text
messages that spending public funds and using public resources for
her personal relationship was a “felony.” When CANTRELL and VAPPIE
learned that the news media was investigating their time together in
the Pontalba, they agreed to “be straight and together.” Days after the
first news stories broke, in November 2022, VAPPIE conducted numerous
online searches for New Orleans-area attorneys who specialize in the
practice of criminal law, and he researched WhatsApp’s security features.
But the defendants’ wire fraud scheme nevertheless continued until VAPPIE's
retirement in June 2024.

As alleged in the superseding indictment, in July 2023, the grand jury
issued subpoenas to both VAPPIE and CANTRELL compelling the
production of records. The FBI also interviewed VAPPIE. During the
interview, VAPPIE lied about the nature and circumstances of his
relationship. In response to the subpoena, CANTRELL produced a
selection of responsive records, but none of the over 15,000 WhatsApp
messages she exchanged with VAPPIE. CANTRELL also created an
affidavit, sworn under oath, that she had activated a feature that
automatically deleted messages in 2021. CANTRELL submitted a
screen shot of her iPhone, showing that WhatsApp messages were
set to delete in 24 hours. In fact, CANTRELL did not turn on that
feature until December 26, 2022, roughly one month after the
news media began speculating on her conduct, VAPPIE conducted
online searches concerning WhatsApp and its security level,
and by which time several people had warned VAPPIE and CANTRELL
that their conduct was illegal. This “disappearing messages” feature,
moreover, only applied to new messages. During roughly this same
period, CANTRELL also manually deleted thousands of her prior
WhatsApp messages with VAPPIE. As alleged, even at the time
CANTRELL responded to the grand jury subpoena, she still possessed
more than 50 pictures, including screen shots of correspondence with
VAPPIE, that were responsive to the subpoena, but which she
nevertheless concealed from the grand jury.

The superseding indictment further alleges that VAPPIE and CANTRELL
continued their pattern of obstruction through the rest of 2023 and 2024.
This included improperly pressuring the Interim Superintendent of NOPD
to overrule findings of an internal investigation into VAPPIE's conduct.
When the Interim Superintendent did not heed that directive, CANTRELL
ordered the Interim Superintendent to nevertheless reassign VAPPIE
back to her protection detail. Months later, in a meeting VAPPIE attended,
CANTRELL informed the Interim Superintendent that the
Interim Superintendent would be replaced. Similarly, when a
private citizen took pictures of CANTRELL and VAPPIE together in
public, dining and consuming alcohol al fresco while VAPPIE reported
to be on duty, CANTRELL obtained non-public information about the
citizen, filed a police report, and sought a restraining order against the citizen.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson reiterated that an indictment is
merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendants must be
proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

If they are convicted of the conspiracy to commit wire fraud,
CANTRELL and VAPPIE each faces up to five years in prison and
up to three years of supervised release. For each count of wire fraud,
CANTRELL and VAPPIE each faces up to twenty years in prison and
up to three years of supervised release. For the conspiracy to
obstruct justice, CANTRELL and VAPPIE each faces up to twenty years
in prison and up to three years of supervised release. For the false
statement to the FBI, VAPPIE faces up to five years in prison and
up to three years of supervised release. For each obstruction of
justice count, CANTRELL faces up to twenty years in prison and
up to three years of supervised release. For each count of making
false statements to a grand jury, CANTRELL faces up to five years
in prison and up to three years of supervised release. For each count,
both defendants face a fine of up to $250,000 and a $100 mandatory
special assessment fee.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation in investigating this matter and expressed appreciation
for the support provided by the Department of Justice’s Computer Crimes
and Intellectual Properties Section Cybercrime Lab, the City of
New Orleans Office of Inspector General, and the Metropolitan Crime Commission.
Assistant United States Attorneys Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the
Public Integrity Unit, and Nicholas D. Moses, of the Financial Crimes Unit
and Health Care Fraud Coordinator, are in charge of the prosecution.