Former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson to begin prison sentence

Crime

Fernandes Anderson resigned in disgrace after pleading guilty to charges related to her orchestration of an illegal kickback scheme.

Former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson is set to begin her one-month prison sentence Friday, after she pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges earlier this year. 

Fernandes Anderson was planning to report to the Bureau of Prisons on Friday to begin her sentence, according to court documents filed on Thursday. She sought to have her passport returned from her probation officer to her attorney. Prosecutors agreed to this and another request that she no longer be subject to pre-trial conditions of release, according to the documents. 

It is unclear which prison will house Fernandes Anderson. After her one-month prison stint, Fernandes Anderson will be under supervised release for three years. She was also ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution. Prosecutors initially handpicked a prison sentence of a year and a day. 

She was first elected to represent District 7 in 2021, making her the first African immigrant and first Muslim American elected to the body. Fernandes Anderson won reelection in 2023 to another two-year term. 

But she was arrested last December and indicted on five counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud and one count of aiding and abetting theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. Fernandes Anderson initially pleaded not guilty and refused calls from Mayor Michelle Wu and her colleagues to resign. 

However, in May, Fernandes Anderson agreed to plead guilty to one count each of wire fraud and theft concerning a program receiving federal funds in exchange for the other charges to be dropped. 

Fernandes Anderson continued to serve on the City Council for weeks after her guilty plea, eventually resigning on July 4. 

The investigation into Fernandes Anderson centered on her orchestration of a kickback scheme that involved a family member who she had hired onto her staff. In late 2022, she hired the family member and did not disclose that they were related. In mid-2023, as she was facing “personal financial difficulty,” Fernandes Anderson concocted a scheme to dish out a large bonus to this family member with an agreement that a portion of it would be covertly handed back to the councilor, according to the indictment. 

That bonus ended up being $13,000, more than twice the total amount Fernandes Anderson paid in bonuses to her other staffers. At Fernandes Anderson’s direction, the family member withdrew the money in cash from various locations around Boston. They secretly met in a City Hall bathroom in June 2023, where the family member handed $7,000 in cash to Fernandes Anderson, according to the indictment. 

Ahead of the sentencing, multiple City Council members, state lawmakers, and other friends and family wrote letters vouching for her character and advocating for her to receive a lenient sentence. 

“Her decision to accept accountability shows a recognition of the seriousness of the situation, and I believe it reflects a person who is ready to learn from this chapter and continue contributing meaningfully to her community,” Councilor Brian Worrell wrote. “Tania is not defined solely by this moment.”

During Fernandes Anderson’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani called her crimes “serious” and “heartbreaking” given that support. 

“Everybody gives their tax dollars to the government assuming it will be managed properly and used appropriately,” Talwani said. “It is a breach of the trust that we put in our government employees, elected officials.”

Fernandes Anderson addressed Talwani during the sentencing hearing and asked for forgiveness from her family and constituents. 

“I feel disgusted,” she said. “I can’t forgive myself for my behavior … I feel like this will weigh on me for the rest of my life.”