UPDATE: If you want to read the indictment for yourself, scroll down.
It names Cantrell and Vappie, and alleges conspiracy to commit wire fraud, multiple counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice and false declaration before a grand jury. The indictment also includes a forfeiture count.
Here's the original story:
A federal grand jury returned a criminal indictment Friday of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, capping a years-long corruption investigation that had overshadowed the mayor's second term, our media partners at The Advocate/Times Picayune are reporting.
The grand jury handed up charges against the sitting mayor at the Hale Boggs federal building in downtown New Orleans shortly before 1 p.m. Addressing Magistrate Judge Eva J. Dossier, a member of the grand jury identified Cantrell as a defendant against freshly filed charges but did not list the counts she faces or describe the allegations they stemmed from. A copy of the indictment was not immediately available.
Jeffrey Vappie, the mayor's former New Orleans Police Department bodyguard, was also indicted on fresh charges in the indictment.
The criminal charges — an apparent result of the wide-ranging probe into Cantrell's spending, political activities and other alleged acts — mark a stunning low point for the Democratic mayor, a former neighborhood organizer who rose eight years ago from a seat on the City Council to New Orleans' top office. Her ascent shocked the city's political class and epitomized changes that swept New Orleans politics following Hurricane Katrina.
To read the Picayune's whole story with all the details, click here.
Here's the indictment:
