Former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was sentenced on Friday to one month in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution in a federal corruption case.
Fernandes Anderson pleaded guilty in May to charges of wire fraud and theft of federal funds after orchestrating a kickback scheme. As part of the plea offer, four other counts of wire fraud were dismissed.
The sentencing marks a remarkable brake on a speedy-moving political rise. Fernandes Anderson was first elected in 2021 to represent District 7, which covers Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of the South End. She was the first African immigrant and Muslim-American elected to the Boston City Council.
The indictment says the then-councilor hired a family member to her staff and gave them a $13,000 bonus on the condition that they kick thousands of dollars back to her. Prosecutors said Fernandes Anderson accepted $7,000 cash in a city hall bathroom in the summer of 2023.
The government had suggested a sentence of one year and a day in prison, plus supervised release and $13,000 in restitution.
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Mulcahy acknowledged that Fernandes Anderson had to “overcome very tough odds” in her life, but because her crime “erodes public trust,” the court should consider a sentence that puts other politicians on notice.
Mulcahy also said Fernandes Anderson has shown a lack of remorse in the case, pointing to her appearances in the media, endorsement of a candidate running for her former District 7 seat, and the months-long delay between her plea offer and resignation from the council.
Fernandes Anderson was arrested in December 2024 but kept her position on the council until July 4, 2025, despite pressure from fellow local officials to step down.
While he spoke, Fernandes Anderson often shook her head, and wiped her nose with a tissue.
“Tania Fernandes Anderson was elected to serve her constituents but instead, she deliberately used her elected position as a Boston City Councilor to serve herself,” U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley said in a statement after the sentencing.
But Judge Indira Talwani was unconvinced by the government’s argument to exceed federal sentencing guidelines, saying judges stuck to the guidelines in previous cases of political corruption in Boston. She pointed to Diane Wilkerson’s bribery conviction, where the former state senator received a 42-month sentence. While longer than what prosecutors sought with Fernandes Anderson, it fell within the guidelines in Wilkerson’s case.
She said she considered Fernandes Anderson’s lack of criminal history, and the low level crime, among other factors.
“I have to deliver a sentence that is just,” she said. “Can the government justify a 12 month sentence?”
Fernandes Anderson’s court-appointed defense Attorney Scott Lauer said prison time was not necessary to “advance the goals of sentencing,” and urged the judge to consider more than 140 pages worth of support letters from her community, including former city council colleagues.
“They see her as worthy of redemption,” he said. “This prosecution has been a profoundly humbling experience for her.”
Ultimately, the judge expressed skepticism that Fernandes Anderson had fully accepted responsibility for her crimes.
“Is the problem in her view that she got caught or is the problem in her view that there was something wrong?” she posed, before asking Fernandes Anderson if she would like to address to the court.
After a long pause, and through sobs, Fernandes Anderson said she wanted to “ask God for forgiveness.” She sought the same from her family, friends, and constituents.
“The truth is I didn’t even want to speak today because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing and as though I’m portraying myself to be a victim because I’m not,” she said. “There is no excuse and I know that this was betrayal.”
As Fernandes Anderson continued to speak, several of her supporters in attendance wept.
She ended by asking for the judge to spare her adult children and new grandchild “the pain of separating me from them.”
Talwani called the ordeal “heartbreaking” but said, “there’s no question that you knew it was wrong.”
The offense, she said, is serious because “everyone gives their tax dollars to the government assuming it’s going to be managed appropriately,” and not “going into someone’s own pocket.”
After announcing the one-month sentence, Talwani told Fernandes Anderson that after she serves, “you can stand up and say, ‘I did pay for that crime and today I’m moving on.”
The former councilor was allowed to leave the court to return home for the next six weeks. She’s expected to self-report to prison on October 17.
After the hearing, Fernandes Anderson spoke with reporters in front of the courthouse while waiting for her Lyft.
“Everything that happened, it’s for a reason. Everything,” she said. “Everything, all praise due to God, everything, Alhamdulillah. And that is the last thing I’ll say.”
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