New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell arrived in federal court early Wednesday afternoon to be arraigned on charges of fraud and obstruction of justice over an alleged coverup of a romantic relationship with her former bodyguard.

Cantrell, the first female mayor in the city’s 300-year history, developed a “personal, intimate relationship” with her bodyguard, Jeffrey Paul Vappie II, and later engaged in what prosecutors described as a years-long scheme to cover up the affair.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the pair allegedly defrauded the city by paying Vappie’s salary and expenses while he claimed to be on duty but “was actually engaged in personal activities, often with Cantrell.”

Vappie, who was initially indicted in July 2024, pleaded

See Full Page