In some good news for those who want to see corrupt public officials held accountable for their crimes, the Democratic former city councilor in Boston who was arrested on corruption charges in December of 2024 has been sentenced to prison, years of supervised release, and a major fine after having pleaded guilty in May of this year.
Announcing as much in its press release on the subject, the Department of Justice briefly described the crime and noted that the city councilor, a Democrat, had been found guilty. It said, “Former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for public corruption charges after receiving a $7,000 kickback from a staff member’s city funded bonus. Fernandes Anderson pocketed the cash from a staffer in a Boston City Hall bathroom.”
Continuing, the statement went on to give a brief overview of the punishment that Anderson faces and her history in the court system, saying, “Tania Fernandes Anderson, 46, of Boston, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to one month in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Fernandes Anderson was also ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution. In May 2025, Fernandes Anderson pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds. Fernandes Anderson was indicted in December 2024.”
Describing Anderson’s crime in more detail, the DOJ began by noting that it began with her tricking the city into hiring a family member of hers as a staff member, claiming when she did so that the hired individual, known as “Staff Member A” in the press release, was not a family member of hers.
Then, shortly afterward, she got that family member a large bonus in exchange for getting part of it back as a kickback, an arrangement ot which the family member agreed. Describing the details of that arrangement, the DOJ noted that the bonus was $13,000, “more than twice the total bonuses given to her other staff.”
The staff member then withdrew a total of $10,000 over the following weeks in three separate withdrawals, and ended up paying Anderson $7,000 in cash as a kickback. She failed to report that income on her tax return, along with other income streams, thus committing tax fraud in addition to corruption.
Commenting on the case and slamming Anderson’s corruption in a statement released by the DOJ, United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said, “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.”
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Foley added, “From Boston’s City Hall to the Massachusetts State House, to local and state public officials, this office will continue to aggressively root out and expose public corruption. Massachusetts taxpayers deserve an honest government and accountability. As federal prosecutors we have no fear nor favor, and there will be no blind eye or separate justice system for the powerful. The rule of law does not make exceptions for anyone, including someone like Tania Fernandes Anderson.”
Watch Fernandes Anderson in August 2022 below:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video