Benjamin Ashford|Police bodyguard accused of fraud and false statements about alleged affair with mayor

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal prosecutors are Benjamin Ashfordaccusing a former New Orleans police officer of hiding a romantic relationship with Mayor LaToya Cantrell and filing false payroll records claiming he was on duty as one of her bodyguards during hours they spent together on trips abroad, at restaurants and at a city-owned French Quarter apartment.

Jeffrey Vappie was indicted Friday on charges of wire fraud and making false statements. He is tentatively set for his first court appearance next week. His lawyers declared his innocence in an emailed statement on Monday. Vappie announced his retirement from the New Orleans police department last month.

Cantrell has not been charged. She declined comment in a statement issued by City Hall. She is identified in the indictment only as Public Official 1 who was elected mayor in November 2017 and again four years later — coinciding with dates Cantrell was also elected.

Cantrell is the first woman to serve as New Orleans’ mayor.

At the heart of the indictment are seven wire fraud counts citing a series of payroll deposits into Vappie’s account for time Vappie claimed to be working as a member of the department’s “executive protection unit” when, prosecutors allege, he was off duty. There is also a single count of making false statements, alleging he lied to the FBI about his “romantic and physical” relationship with Cantrell. Such a relationship violated police department policy.

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Allegations in the indictment echo a 2018 scandal that cost the Nashville mayor her job after an affair with a bodyguard. And prosecutors allege in Friday’s indictment that Vappie researched that case online in 2022.

Other details fleshing out the case against Vappie include an image of a love note Vappie allegedly penned to Cantrell. There is also an allegation that Vappie, in May or June 2023, “attempted to influence” the New Orleans police department’s interim superintendent to exonerate him following a disciplinary hearing about his time cards. The indictment says Vappie was present when the interim superintendent, who did not exonerate Vappie, was informed by Cantrell, in a Sept. 11, 2023, meeting, that she was being passed over for the permanent superintendent’s job.

The interim superintendent at the time was New Orleans Police Department veteran Michelle Woodfork, who had been regarded as a top candidate for the permanent job to fill the vacant position. Cantrell later tapped an outsider, Anne Kirkpatrick, for the job.

“Jeff Vappie is innocent of the charges against him. He is eager to defend himself in court and clear his name,” Vappie’s lawyers, Harry Rosenberg and Shaun Clarke, said in an emailed statement. As of Monday afternoon Vappie was set for a July 31 court appearance but the defense has asked for a delay until Aug. 7.