I don’t like New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. I also don’t like the federal indictment handed down against her last week.
Before learning the details of the charges, I hoped they addressed some serious corruption allegations involving contractor kickbacks and sweetheart deals. Instead, the charges involve the sweetheart Cantrell lied to the FBI about: Her former bodyguard and NOPD officer, Jeffrey Vappie who has also been charged.
I’ll let the Picayune’s Julia Guilbeau summarize the charges, so I don’t have to:
- In October of 2021, Vappie joined Cantrell on a work trip to Scotland. Federal investigators allege this trip was the start of their personal relationship and the beginning of the conspiracy to improperly use taxpayer money. Vappie later said in a WhatsApp message that it was “where it all started.”
- Over the next three years, federal prosecutors say Vappie joined Cantrell on at least thirteen other trips, serving as her personal bodyguard while travelling to Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and the United Arab Emirates. Altogether, the trips cost the city of New Orleans more $70,000 in expenses for Vappie’s travel, which prosecutors allege was a criminal misuse of public money.
- Throughout their relationship, investigators say Vappie stayed with Cantrell at the city-owned Pontalba apartment while he reported to be on duty. Prosecutors allege he filled out false timecards and was paid while he and Cantrell shared romantic dinners, which prosecutors say amounted to wire fraud.
- Federal prosecutors say that starting in February of 2022, Cantrell and Vappie began exclusively communicating over the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp, exchanging over 15,000 messages over the next few years, and eventually used the app’s disappearing messaging feature to conceal their relationship.
- Vappie and Cantrell continually provided false statements to NOPD supervisors, the mayor’s office staff, the media and the public about the nature of the relationship in an attempt to obstruct justice and prevent an investigation, according to the court documents.
- On July 14, 2023, while being questioned by the FBI, Vappie told federal investigators that he never had a romantic or physical relationship with Cantrell, a statement that federal prosecutors say was false.
- On July 18, 2023, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena to Cantrell, requiring her to produce all records and documents related to travel expenses with Vappie, records of gifts given to her by Vappie and any communications between the pair. According to the indictment, Cantrell allegedly withheld several photos and phone records relevant to the subpoena, leading to a charge of obstruction of justice.
- Cantrell appeared before the grand jury on two separate occasions — Oct. 25, 2023, and June 28, 2024 — and prosecutors say she provided false statements during both appearances. They allege that she lied about her relationship with Vappie and lied about concealing documents related to her subpoena.
That was a long ass quote, but it lays the groundwork for this post. The Picayune also published a timeline of the investigation.
The most serious charges involve lying to the FBI and the coverup. The travel expenses stuff strikes me as defensible, especially if the defense can show that past Mayors took a bodyguard on trips with them. The city routinely pays for staff travel expenses and $70K is small beer or is that potatoes? It’s more of an ethics violation than a federal felony IMO.
It’s time to put on my lawyer hat: This is a case that I’d rather defend than prosecute. The chances for jury nullification are high and the chances of a conviction without Vappie flipping are only fair to middling. It all comes down to voir dire. If they pick the right jury, the defense can hang it or even obtain an acquittal.
Working the jury pool with a PR offensive is important for the defense. It’s all about the timing: The investigation began under the Biden DOJ. It seemed to grind to a halt after charges were filed against Vappie last year. Then came last week’s indictment. If I were on this case, I’d blast the Trump administration, popular in much of the Gret Stet of Louisiana, but even more unpopular in New Orleans than the Mayor. The Cantrell indictment is a textbook example of prosecutorial overreach. There’s a lot of that going around.
The defense should use the dread term weaponization in their PR offensive. Cantrell is a Black woman and the Democratic Mayor of a blue city. They should play on mistrust of Kash Patel’s FBI. Cantrell shouldn’t have lied to the FBI, but the defense should argue that everyone lies about their sex life. It was unwise but it’s human nature.
Back to jury selection. Most local Black women of my acquaintance are irked that Cantrell has been singled out for private conduct regardless of whether they approve of her as Mayor. Their frequent refrain is that past male mayors got away with tomcatting around, so why should Cantrell be punished for doing likewise?
The jury pool arguments I just advanced are unlikely to be heard in court: the trial Judge is Trump appointed Wendy Vitter. That’s right, Diaper Dave’s long-suffering wife. You can’t make this shit up.
If were Cantrell’s lawyer, I would urge her to go to trial. There’s a good chance at jury nullification on even the coverup and perjury charges unless Vappie testifies and so far he’s refused to flip. A plea bargain for lying to the FBI wouldn’t surprise me either.
The race to succeed Cantrell is heating up. The indictment’s impact is uncertain BUT it’s likely bad news for Councilmember Oliver Thomas who pled guilty to a federal felony in 2007. As I like to say, if Oliver weren’t a convicted felon, I’d consider voting for him for Mayor. Of course, if he weren’t a convicted felon he was likely to have succeeded convicted felon C Ray Nagin in 2010.
Do I approve of Cantrell’s conduct? No, it was shady and lying to law enforcement was stupid.
Enough with my unsolicited advice. This post is long enough as it is. Let’s close with some loftier thoughts after pondering this sordid scandal:
LaToya Cantrell is the first New Orleans Mayor to be indicted while in office. Here’s hoping she’ll be the last. This scandal was the last thing we needed as the 20th Katrinaversary looms.
The last word goes to Whitney Houston with a song from The Bodyguard:
