New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, whose election to the city’s top role broke barriers, is now facing corruption charges. She’s accused of using city funds to pay for personal time and trips with a bodyguard with whom she is accused of becoming involved with romantically. The charges look to overshadow Cantrell’s tenure, which has included both successes for the city and friction with its political elite.

Allegations of fraud and lies over a secret relationship

On Friday, a federal grand jury indicted Mayor Cantrell and Jerrey Paul Vappie II, a former member of her Executive Protection Unit, with several charges of wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to a grand jury. The two are accused of having developed a romantic relationship in October 2021 and then using city money over an extended period of time to fund their meetings by billing them as official business.

For example, Cantrell had Vappie join her on 14 business trips, at a cost of $70,000 for the city, claiming that she needed him to accompany her because of fears for her safety. Vappie and Cantrell also allegedly used a city-funded apartment to meet.

The indictment follows a federal investigation that began in 2022. In 2024, Randy Farrell, a building inspector, was charged in a conspiracy to provide Mayor Cantrell with NFL tickets and other bribes worth $9,000 in order to get her to fire an official who was pursuing a fraud investigation against him. During the investigation, both Cantrell and Vappie are alleged to have attempted to cover up their relationship and actions by using encrypted messages, deleting evidence, and making false statements to federal authorities, as well as lying to their colleagues and the public.

Mayor Cantrell has previously indicated that she was being unfairly targeted as a Black woman. Earlier this year, she said that she was being treated in “very disrespectful, insulting, in some cases kind of unimaginable” ways.

A historic but contentious tenure

Cantrell is currently serving her second term as Mayor of New Orleans and is set to leave office in January due to term limits. The federal case against her caps a history-making tenure marked by both successes and challenges. Cantrell is the first woman mayor in New Orleans history. She has celebrated a significant drop in the rates of murder and other violent crimes in the city during her time in office.

Despite these successes, Cantrell has had a tumultuous time in office. During her second term, she faced an effort to enact a recall against her, which ultimately failed to gather enough signatures to trigger a vote. Cantrell has also had disputes with members of the City Council.

Upon learning of her indictment, a spokesperson for City Council President JP Morrell said that “this is a sad day for the people of New Orleans.” Morrell’s statement added that “our thoughts and prayers are with the Cantrell family as they navigate through this difficult time.”

Cantrell, the first woman to serve as Mayor of New Orleans, is now also the first mayor of the city to be federally indicted while still in office. The charges brought against her and against Vappie, who is scheduled to go on trial in January, all but guarantee that Cantrell’s last months in office will be overshadowed by scandal.