"Comfort is not a luxury and I am not taking advantage.” - Latoya tha' Destroya' Cantrell

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Federal prosecutors have lodged new evidence in their fraud case against former New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and her alleged paramour, Jeffrey Vappie, asserting Cantrell misspent thousands in campaign funds on personal expenses and that both withheld evidence.

The new court filings adds no new charges to the 18-count superseding indictment that prosecutors unleashed last August charging the pair with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.

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But as evidence of the charged scheme, prosecutors aim to introduce allegations that Vappie, now a retired New Orleans police officer and Cantrell’s former bodyguard, gifted a pair of gold rings to the mayor and then conspired to hide them. One of the rings was emblazoned with the NOPD logo.

The filing also alleges that Cantrell misspent roughly $270,000 beginning in 2020 from her campaign account, doling out more than $10,000 on alcohol and nearly $260,000 more on personal clothing through an “image consultant” paid in part through her campaign account.

U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter will decide whether to admit the new evidence.

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The purchases in July, for example, included 12 bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne and 24 bottles of Urban South Brewing Holy Roller IPA that totaled more than $800.

Cantrell characterized the transactions as “food and beverage for supporters and donors” on her state financial disclosures in February 2021, court documents show, but no in-person campaign events had been scheduled during that time period.

The transactions continued that year despite concerns from an “Associate A” as the city staffer was called in court documents, who warned the purchases didn’t qualify under state campaign finance laws.

“What has changed is that campaign spending is being done in a vacuum and then months later I am given receipts for things like hotel upgrades, flight first class upgrades, $500 bottles of wine. Not sure how any of these qualify,” Associate A told Cantrell in a 2022 text message exchange, according to the filing.

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In a text thread with the associate the following day, Cantrell said she wanted to ensure the money she raised “is also accommodating me while I am doing this job. Comfort is not a luxury and I am not taking advantage,” she said.

Associate A’s warnings came months before the same staffer warned Cantrell that using public funds for her personal travel with Vappie was illegal.

“Last time you were buying like 1k in champaign a month and we weren’t able to have in person anything," the associate wrote in another text included in court filings. "And I didn’t know until way after."

Payments Cantrell made to her clothing stylist between 2017 and 2022 were also paid with campaign dollars, prosecutors allege. The total amounted to $259,559 paid through Cantrell’s campaign account compared to $27,464 paid with her personal money

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NOLA.com Article

I would love to see Wendy Vitter live in action with Latoya in the courtroom. How does one go about attending such an event?