By JIM MUSTIAN, JACK BROOK and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, Related Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal grand jury indicted New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Friday after a protracted corruption investigation.
Cantrell’s lawyer, Eddie Castaing, confirmed to The Related Press that an indictment was returned, and her identify was learn aloud by a federal Justice of the Peace decide as a defendant. The fees weren’t instantly identified.
The indictment is the end result of a long-running federal investigation into Cantrell, the primary feminine mayor within the metropolis’s 300-year historical past.
Cantrell, who’s term-limited, will depart workplace in January. The Democrat has clashed with Metropolis Council members throughout a turbulent second time period and survived a recall effort in 2022.
She hasn’t despatched out a message on her official feed on X, previously generally known as Twitter, since July 15, when she touted that the town was experiencing historic declines in crime.
As Cantrell heads into her ultimate months in workplace, she’s alienated former confidants and supporters, and her civic profile has receded. Her early achievements have been eclipsed by self-inflicted wounds and bitter feuds with a hostile metropolis council, political observers say. The mayor’s position has weakened following voter-approved adjustments to the town’s constitution meant to curb her authority.
Cantrell and her remaining allies allege that she’s been unfairly focused as Black lady and held to a unique customary than male officers, her govt powers sabotaged. Earlier this 12 months, Cantrell mentioned she’s confronted “very disrespectful, insulting, in some circumstances form of unimaginable” remedy.
Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas.
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