Boston City Councilor Agrees to Plead Guilty to Federal Public Corruption Charges
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
Boston City Councilor Agrees to Plead Guilty to Federal Public Corruption Charges
City Councilor for Boston’s District 7, Tania Fernandes Anderson, allegedly pocketed $7,000 cash from staff member’s city-funded bonus
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
BOSTON – Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson has agreed to plead guilty to federal public corruption charges in connection with an alleged kickback scheme to obtain thousands of dollars in cash from a staff member in exchange for a large bonus.
Tania Fernandes Anderson, 46, of Boston, has agreed to plead guilty to count one of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. In December 2024, Fernandes Anderson was indicted by a federal grand jury. Per the plea agreement, the government is recommending a sentence of one year and one day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $13,000.
Fernandes Anderson currently serves as City Councilor for Boston’s District 7, which includes Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of the South End. She was first elected to a two-year term in November 2021 and won re-election in November 2023.
According to the charging documents, in or about 2022, Fernandes Anderson hired two members of her immediate family as salaried employees of her City Councilor Staff. Because City Councilors are prohibited by law from hiring immediate family members to their paid staff, Fernandes Anderson was required to terminate their salaried employment in or about August 2022. Additionally, from in or about March 2023 to May 2023, the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission notified Fernandes Anderson of its findings and that it would be seeking a $5,000 civil penalty payment from her.
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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/boston-city-councilor-agrees-plead-guilty-federal-public-corruption-charges