“When you’re a lame duck, there’s very little you can do productively,” said Gary Clark, a political science professor at Dillard University.

New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell is facing federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges after being indicted this week along with a former member of her security detail.

“To hide their relations from detection and to maximize their time together, Cantrell and Vappie exploited their public positions to develop and implement a scheme to defraud the city of New Orleans ...