New Orleans officer Jeffrey Vappie attorney statement [Video]

Attorneys for a former New Orleans Police Department officer indicted on federal charges issued a statement Monday morning. Former NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie was indicted by a grand jury Friday on seven counts of wire fraud and one count of making false statement charges. Vappie was a former security guard of Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who was implicated in the indictment as “Public Official One, mayor of the City of New Orleans.” Harry Rosenberg and Shaun Clarke, Vappie’s attorneys, issued the following statement regarding the charges: “Jeff Vappie is innocent of the charges against him. He is eager to defend himself in court and clear his name.” Vappie is accused of incurring more than $47,000 in costs connected to work trips while he traveled with Cantrell. Those costs included meals, lodging, incidentals, and his salary. According to the indictment, Vappie “knowingly submitted false timecards to NOPD in excessive payments.”According to the …