Lawyers for NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie have announced that their client never stated he was having an affair with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
Vappie's attorney Branden Villavaso publically stated: "He denies that he admitted any affair to his wife." Villavaso is representing Vappie in an internal NOPD investigation under way looking into the dealing of the Mayor's security detail.
The statement is the first from the embattled officer following the filing of divorce papers by his wife earlier in the month.
Those papers allege Vappie and Mayor LaToya Cantrell have been involved in a relationship dating back to May 2021 and that he told his wife about the affair.
Vappie's legal team declined any further comment, citing the investigation by the department's Public Integrity Bureau.
But Michael Hall, the attorney for Mrs. Vappie, also declined comment telling the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate: It’s a family matter, the family is working through this."