Days after federal prosecutors charged a New Orleans electrical inspector with gifting her football tickets as part of a sweeping fraud scheme, Mayor LaToya Cantrell fired back Tuesday in her first direct acknowledgement in months of a widening federal probe into her office.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell talks to the New Orleans City Council while presenting her budget at City Hall on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
“How I came in seems to be how I'm going out," Cantrell told officials at the start of a briefing on the mayor's 2025 city budget proposal. "Accusation after accusation after accusation. But also a track record of delivering results."
Cantrell was responding to a 25-count federal grand jury indictment returned Friday against Randy Farrell, who through his company, IECI, is accused over several years of submitting hundreds of fraudulent permit applications on behalf of unlicensed electricians who'd paid Farrell bribes. Farrell?then gave Cantrell?a slew of gifts, including the tickets, a steak dinner and an iPhone in efforts to persuade her to look the other way, the feds allege.
Farrell's attorneys have said their client is innocent. He's scheduled to appear in court Oct. 16.
New Orleans Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano, left, and Mayor LaToya Cantrell, back right, get ready to present their annual budget before the New Orleans City Council on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Both Cantrell and her second-in-command, Gilbert Monta?o, are accused of accepting Saints tickets from Farrell through a business partner, Fouad Zeton. Cantrell is identified in the indictment as "Public Official 1" and Monta?o as "Public Official 2."?
In return for thousands of dollars' worth of football tickets, the feds allege that Cantrell eventually fired a top city permitting official, Jen Cecil, who'd become suspicious of Farrell's business practices. It's less clear whether?Monta?o performed anything for Farrell in return for those gifts.
Neither Cantrell nor Monta?o has been charged with a crime.
New Orleans Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano presents the budget plan to the New Orleans City Council on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
At Tuesday's budget meeting, Cantrell said she stands behind Monta?o and thanked city employees for continuing to work despite accusations swirling around her administration.?
The second-term mayor has barely spoken up on the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office probe of her affairs in recent months. She stayed silent even as her former bodyguard and alleged paramour, Jeffrey Vappie, was charged with federal crimes for allegedly concealing his relationship with the mayor in order to keep collecting his police department salary for hours spent with her. Vappie has pleaded not guilty.
Farrell's indictment marked the second charging document to reference the mayor extensively in recent months. Federal prosecutors described Cantrell repeatedly in Vappie's indictment, on wire fraud and false statement charges, too.
New Orleans Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano, center, stops in a hallway at City Hall to talk with the media before presenting the budget to the New Orleans City Council on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Monta?o addressed Farrell's indictment in a meeting with The Times-Picayune editorial board Monday.
Monta?o reiterated comments he made on Friday that he was “shocked” to be implicated in the indictment. He said that his focus was to “make sure the work is getting done" at City Hall.
“I know and am confident that my integrity for all my years and service means something,” Monta?o said.
