XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.politics.liberalism, sac.politics   
   XPost: neworleans.general   
   From: democrats@caused.it   
      
   Jeffrey Vappie, the former New Orleans police officer on Mayor LaToya   
   Cantrell's security detail whose relationship with Cantrell spawned a series   
   of investigations and accusations of an illicit affair, was indicted by a   
   federal grand jury Friday on seven counts of wire fraud and one count of   
   lying to investigators.   
      
   Vappie retired from the New Orleans Police Department in late June as   
   allegations against him swirled. Confirming an outcome that legal observers   
   had pondered for months, the 19-page charging document paints a picture of   
   Vappie seeking to conceal a months-long romantic relationship he allegedly   
   had with the mayor — all with the goal of continuing to receive his publicly   
   funded salary.   
      
   Vappie is due to be arraigned on July 31. The case has been assigned to U.S.   
   District Judge Wendy Vitter, an appointee of former President Donald Trump.   
      
   It will doubtless provide additional fodder for opponents of Cantrell, who   
   have used her alleged romantic relationship with Vappie as a political   
   cudgel throughout the mayor's scandal-plagued second term. Vappie and   
   Cantrell have both vehemently denied accusations of an affair.   
      
   In keeping with Justice Department protocols, the indictment describes   
   Cantrell, who has not been charged, as "Public Official 1."   
      
   The seven wire fraud counts accuse Vappie of pocketing at least $7,177 that   
   prosecutors say the city paid him for hours he claimed to be on duty, but   
   was in fact engaging in a "personal, romantic relationship" with Cantrell.   
   While it's not the focus of a charge, the indictment strongly suggests that   
   Cantrell opted not to give former interim Police Superintendent Michelle   
   Woodfork the permanent job as chief because Woodfork upheld the findings of   
   an internal probe that questioned Vappie's conduct.   
      
   Vappie's false statement charge relates to his repeated denial, in an   
   hourlong interview with federal agents, that he was involved in a romantic   
   relationship with Cantrell.   
      
   Cantrell remains a focus of the federal probe. Her lawyer, Eddie Castaing,   
   declined to comment.   
      
   Cantrell's press staff responded with a brief statement. "Due to the ongoing   
   nature of the investigation and out of respect for the integrity of the   
   process, we will withhold any comments at this time," said a spokesperson,   
   Leatrice Dupre.   
      
   Vappie's lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Harry Rosenberg, said he had no   
   immediate comment.   
      
   Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Coman, who led the corruption   
   prosecution of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin after Nagin left office, said the   
   numerous references to Cantrell in Vappie's indictment suggests prosecutors   
   may soon charge Cantrell, too.   
      
   "The U.S. Attorney's Office, and in particular these prosecutors, would not   
   gratuitously include items or references regarding Public Official 1 if   
   those actions were not being heavily scrutinized by them," Coman said. "That   
   suggests this could lead to criminal action against Public Official 1."   
      
   Long saga   
   Vappie's indictment Friday caps a winding public saga that began with a   
   complaint from the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a local anti-corruption   
   watchdog, and WVUE-TV reports on surveillance videos from public cameras   
   that showed the officer was spending long hours in an Upper Pontalba   
   apartment with the mayor.   
      
   In late 2022, Cantrell's office announced that Vappie was under   
   investigation by the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau for irregularities with   
   hours he'd clocked while on the mayor’s detail. That investigation   
   ultimately led Woodfork to sign off on letters of reprimand for what the   
   department found were relatively minor violations. Vappie would later return   
   to work on the mayor's security detail.   
      
   Soon after officials announced the payroll investigation, Vappie’s wife, in   
   a January 2023 divorce filing, accused her husband of having an “ongoing   
   sexual relationship” with Cantrell. Vappie and the mayor both denied the   
   claim.   
      
   Then, earlier this spring, the Crime Commission filed a new complaint after   
   Vappie was photographed dining with Cantrell on the balcony of a French   
   Quarter restaurant. That photo was taken April 7, the day before Vappie and   
   his now ex-wife signed a consent judgment finalizing their divorce.   
      
   At times, the federal investigations into Vappie and Cantrell have   
   intertwined. As the FBI sought information on dealings between Cantrell’s   
   campaign donors and her administration, federal agents also focused on   
   whether Vappie might have committed payroll fraud, sources with knowledge of   
   the investigation told The Times-Picayune late last year.   
      
   Vappie was reassigned from Cantrell's security detail this spring as the   
   NOPD began investigating the fresh complaint stemming from the photographs   
   of Vappie dining with the mayor.   
      
   On Monday, The Times-Picayune and other outlets reported that an outside   
   firm commissioned by the NOPD's internal affairs arm will investigate   
   complaints that Vappie and three other officers improperly accessed and   
   disclosed private information about Anne Breaud, a French Quarter resident   
   who took the photos of Cantrell dining with Vappie, and whom Cantrell had   
   alleged was stalking her in a court petition that a judge recently tossed.   
      
   All four officers are accused of violating the department's records release   
   policy.   
      
   The indictment   
   The indictment accuses Vappie of reporting fraudulent work hours on at least   
   seven pay checks, starting in August 2022 and ending in April 2024.   
      
   "Vappie submitted and certified timecards to NOPD for periods he falsely   
   claimed to have worked on duty... when, in fact, Vappie was engaged in   
   personal, recreational activities unrelated to his work duties, including a   
   personal and romantic relationship with Public Official 1," the document   
   reads.   
      
   At times, Vappie denied such a relationship to other officers in the   
   executive protection unit, the indictment says. It accuses him of dining and   
   drinking alcohol at restaurants with the mayor during periods where he was   
   meant to be protecting her.   
      
   The document contains salacious details about numerous "personal and   
   romantic messages and photographs" the pair allegedly sent via text, voice   
   message and WhatsApp in ways that sought to "avoid detection and continue   
   their relationship." It accuses Vappie of insisting that he only had a   
   professional relationship with Cantrell throughout the period where they   
   were exchanging amorous messages.   
      
   Vappie and Cantrell also discussed and later deleted messages they'd   
   exchanged, the document says — steps the feds say shows that Vappie was   
   trying to conceal their relationship as part of the payroll fraud scheme.   
      
   Prosecutors also sought to cement the argument Vappie tried to hide the   
   relationship by providing details of various incriminating web searches. In   
   March 2022, they say he conducted "multiple online searches" regarding an   
      
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