NEW ORLEANS, LA - Former New Orleans Police Officer Jaffrey Vappie, who was assigned to the security detail of Democrat Mayor LaToya Cantrell, has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on seven counts of wire fraud and one count of making false statements. Cantrell was also implicated as "Public Official One, mayor of the City of New Orleans."
As reported by WDSU, Vappie is accused of "knowingly [submitted] false timecards to NOPD in excessive payments," in the amount of $47,000 in costs in connection to trips taken with Cantrell, with whom he was allegedly having an affair while staying in a city-owned Pontalba apartment in the French Quarter. Cantrell was later stripped of the privilege of using the apartment by the City Council.
Though Vappie ardently denied the affair, the romantic entanglement seems to have been confirmed by evidence presented to the Grand Jury, which included personal text messages and images of a romantic nature in addition to WhatsApp and Voice notes.
"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 indictment read in part.
It later alleges that Vappie searched in November for "(h)ow secure is whatsapp," and even sought the home address of a "member of the news media," who had covered the story.
As NOLA.com reports, Vappie retired from the New Orleans Police Department in late June amidst the allegations against him and a pending divorce. He is now set to be arraigned in the court of U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter on July 31st.
Per NOLA, the indictment also contained messages of a more salacious nature and the various messaging systems were used in ways that indicated the pair aimed to "avoid detection and continue their relationship."
In a statement from Cantrell's press office, spokesman Leatrice Dupre said, "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."
Vappie is represented by Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Coman who told reporters, "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."
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