NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell made an arduous walk on Wednesday that no other sitting mayor of this city has ever had to make – to the federal courthouse to face criminal charges while still in office.

Hounded by reporters as she walked with her attorney Eddie Castaing to the Hale Boggs Federal Building, Cantrell said little, except to express concern for a cameraman who fell as she walked through the press gaggle. Then, inside the Magistrate Court of Judge Karen Wells Roby, the mayor said “Your honor, I plead not guilty” when the charges were read against her.

The mayor was released on her own recognizance under the supervision of U.S. Probation. She is required to surrender her passport, and her travel is restricted to the Eastern District of Louisiana and elsewhere i

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