Laksmi Suarez, 32, and Nene (Mikaela) Munguia, 34, both charged with three misdemeanors, were released without bail and scheduled for a hearing Oct. 16. They have been prohibited from leaving the country for 10 years.
“We are confident the charges will be dropped,” said Munguia’s attorney Jose F. Martinez.
The charges come after Suarez, a former U.M.L.U. secretary general and the woman’s boyfriend, told a New Orleans grand jury two years ago in a case described by the grand jury as possibly political in nature that he and Munguia had a relationship while he was the union’s U.S. president to bolster their campaign against the league.
Both men are also accused of conspiring with one another to use Nola politicians, union officials and city officials to get the league to move away from its longtime home of New Orleans and to return to Atlanta after the Saints disbanded last spring.
The grand jury investigating the case, known as the U.S. Attorney’s investigation, has issued three indictments so far, including the three men who have pleaded guilty to a charge over the alleged scheme but will likely be cleared of similar counts if they are all convicted late next year.
The three men have been released on bond but have not been sentenced. Nene is currently in U.S. District Court in New Orleans and Suarez is in a Texas jail.
But they will likely be tried in New Orleans, according to prosecutor Michael Sullivan. He told jurors Wednesday that all three men pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
The charges stem from several days in September 2013 when Suarez spoke with Munguia in New Orleans to seek a commitment to support him for the mayoral race, according to testimony by U.N.L.U. officials at the time.
They said Suarez’s actions were planned, coordinated and led to a commitment to assist Munguia because the union wanted the city council to pass a resolution supporting U.N.L.U. efforts to get the league’s home game, a home-and-away series against the Chargers, moved to NOLA.
“Some individuals did not want the league to be in New Orleans,” said Sullivan, who called the allegations the “single biggest story” in the NFL. “And the fact is, nobody is above the law.”