Current:Home > MyFeds: New Orleans police officer charged with fraud amid tryst with mayor -DataFinance
Feds: New Orleans police officer charged with fraud amid tryst with mayor
View
Date:2025-04-14 07:29:06
A former New Orleans police officer accused of hiding a tryst with the mayor he was assigned to protect says he is innocent of fraud allegations after a federal indictment charged him with billing the city for trips and meals the pair shared while he was on the clock.
Jeffrey Vappie submitted thousands of dollars' worth of false timecards claiming he was on duty as a member of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s Executive Protection Unit since they began their alleged romantic relationship around November 2021, federal prosecutors said. The officer allegedly expensed meals and drinks they shared while engaging in a personal relationship with Cantrell during work hours.
The city also spent more than $47,000 in salary and travel costs for purported work trips that Vappie and Cantrell took together, including to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Scotland and the United Arab Emirates, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Attorneys for Vappie denied the accusations in an email to USA TODAY Thursday.
“Jeff Vappie is innocent of the charges against him,” Harry Rosenberg and Shaun Clarke wrote. “He is eager to defend himself in court and clear his name.”
The mayor's office didn't immediately return USA TODAY's requests for comment.
Officer removed from security detail after local media blows the whistle
Vappie, 52, had served as a New Orleans police officer since 1997 up until last month when he turned in his resignation, according to court papers. The officer was removed from Cantrell's security detail and reassigned to another post in November 2022 after local news outlets first reported on the pair's lengthy stays at an apartment owned by the city that the mayor had access to, the indictment said. He returned to the protection unit in June 2023.
Vappie allegedly looked up a member of news media after the 2022 reports were published, including an internet search for where the person lived. The journalist is not identified in court documents.
Court documents do not name the public official that Vappie was in a relationship with but say the official was the New Orleans mayor who was re-elected on Nov. 13, 2021. That is the date Cantrell won her second term.
In addition to the fraud charges, Vappie was also indicted on one count of making false statements after he allegedly denied his relationship with the mayor when FBI agents questioned him at his home last summer.
Each of the seven wire fraud counts carries up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and the false statements charge is punishable by up to five years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym After 3 Days
- Trump pledged to roll back protections for transgender students. They’re flooding crisis hotlines
- Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym After 3 Days
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- 'I heard it and felt it': Chemical facility explosion leaves 11 hospitalized in Louisville
- Song Jae-lim, Moon Embracing the Sun Actor, Dead at 39
- Homes of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce burglarized, per reports
- Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
- Subway rider who helped restrain man in NYC chokehold death says he wanted ex-Marine to ‘let go’
Ranking
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- Cameron Brink set to make Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut
- College Football Playoff snubs: Georgia among teams with beef after second rankings
- Charles Hanover: Caution, Bitcoin May Be Entering a Downward Trend!
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Kansas basketball vs Michigan State live score updates, highlights, how to watch Champions Classic
- Arkansas governor unveils $102 million plan to update state employee pay plan
- Olivia Munn Randomly Drug Tests John Mulaney After Mini-Intervention
Recommendation
The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
Judge moves to slash $38 million verdict in New Hampshire youth center abuse case
Panel advises Illinois commemorate its role in helping slaves escape the South
'I heard it and felt it': Chemical facility explosion leaves 11 hospitalized in Louisville
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
'Yellowstone' premiere: Record ratings, Rip's ride and Billy Klapper's tribute
Kansas basketball vs Michigan State live score updates, highlights, how to watch Champions Classic
Horoscopes Today, November 11, 2024