Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy all classic love tales.
But none can compare to LaToya Cantrell, the formerly married Democrat Mayor of New Orleans, hooking up with the also-married cop who was assigned to protect her.
From the New York Times:
Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans was charged on Friday with going to criminal lengths to carry out and cover up a romantic relationship with a city police officer who had been assigned to protect her, prosecutors said.
The indictment emerged from a lengthy federal investigation into corruption that has cast a shadow over Ms. Cantrell's second and final term as mayor, which ends in January. She and her former bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, face a combined 18 felony counts, including making false statements, obstruction of justice and conspiracy.
So, this duo has spent the last 4 years pulling of a conspiracy around this affair where they allegedly lied about their relationship, used tax money to carry on the affair, and used tax money to cover up the affair.
It's all in the indictment.
NOLA.com has a breakdown of the timeline of events.
Officer Vappie was married at the time he was assigned to Mayor Cantrell's detail, as was Mayor Cantrell. Since the assignment and start of the alleged affair in 2021, Vappie's wife divorced him (in 2022) when public rumors of the affair began. Cantrell's husband passed away in 2023.
But the two continued to carry on as if they were not romantically involved because they were, according to the indictment, in the coverup pretty deep.
The indictment 'reflects the prosecution of two public officials alleged to have engaged in a yearslong continuing fraud scheme that used public money for personal ends,' Michael M. Simpson, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, said in a news conference on Friday afternoon.
'They perpetuated that fraud scheme,' he added, 'by taking steps to keep individuals silent, to deceive subordinates and to obstruct investigations into their relationship, including one conducted by a federal grand jury'
If they think they have proof this pair lied to a grand jury then, in my non-professional opinion, it sounds like it's already over for these two.
The WhatsApp messages between the two, which came after Vappie Googled "how secure is WhatsApp" seem particularly damning.
They exchanged thousands of messages on WhatsApp, according to the indictment. They described the affection they had for each other, sent photographs and shared mundane details of their days ...
The two of them traveled to Los Angeles, Orlando and Scotland, among other destinations, all while Mr. Vappie was also technically on duty as Ms. Cantrell's bodyguard. His travel cost the city more than $70,000 in airfare, meals and salary, prosecutors said.
During a business trip to San Francisco, Mr. Vappie and Ms. Cantrell decided to stay an extra day to visit wineries in Napa Valley, according to the indictment. Mr. Vappie was paid for working 15 hours, it says, on a day that he was wine tasting.
There are a million more details to this story, but the long and short of it is that New Orleans is a MESS!
To hide the relationship, prosecutors said, the pair deleted evidence, lied to F.B.I. agents and gave a grand jury an affidavit signed under oath that included false statements. They are also accused of lying and withholding information from a grand jury.
Democrats! Get your act together!
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