New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted by a federal grand jury, becoming the first mayor to face federal charges while still in office.

NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell was indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday, making her the first New Orleans mayor charged with a federal crime while still in office. 

Details of the charges against the first woman mayor in the city’s 307-year history weren’t immediately available after the indictment was handed up to Magistrate Judge Eva Dossier by the grand jury foreman.

The indictment caps a federal investigation of Cantrell, first reported by WWL Louisiana in 2022. A grand jury started hearing the evidence from federal prosecutors in February 2024 and returned an indictment last September against building inspector Randy Farrell, charging him with conspiring to bribe Cantrell with about $9,000 in gifts in 2019, including NFC Championship Game tickets, a lunch at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse and a cell phone, in exchange for causing the firing of a city official who had been investigating Farrell for alleged fraud.

Cantrell was also implicated in the 2024 indictment of her former bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, who allegedly had a romantic affair with Cantrell and is charged with using that relationship to defraud the New Orleans Police Department.

Former Mayor Ray Nagin was under federal investigation during his time in office, from 2002 to 2010, but he was not indicted on corruption charges until 2013. He was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

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