Tania Fernandes Anderson's embattled tenure on Boston City Council is now over

Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald on Jul 4, 2025

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Boston has declared its independence from disgraced City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, whose last day of work after resigning following her conviction on federal corruption charges was July 4.

Fernandes Anderson, 46, pleaded guilty on May 5 to two of six public corruption charges that were lodged against her in a federal indictment last December, when she was also arrested by the feds outside her Dorchester home.

The ex-councilor agreed to plead guilty to two of the charges — one count of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning a federal program — as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office. The four other wire fraud charges were dropped as part of the deal she entered into with federal prosecutors in early April.

The charges are tied to a kickback scheme Fernandes Anderson carried out at City Hall two years ago. The then-councilor doled out a $13,000 bonus to one of her Council staffers, a relative but not immediate family member, on the condition that $7,000 be kicked back to her. The handoff was coordinated by text and took place in a City Hall bathroom in June 2023, the federal indictment states.

Fernandes Anderson submitted her letter of resignation to the city on June 12, with her last day stated as July 4. She defied calls to resign for months, which were leveled by Mayor Michelle Wu and five city councilors, including the council president, immediately after her arrest and indictment last December.

Councilors can be removed from the body only after sentencing for a felony, rather than conviction, per state law.

Fernandes Anderson is set to be sentenced in federal court on July 29. U.S. Attorney Leah Foley has recommended that the ex-councilor be sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution.

The federal judge presiding over the case has warned Fernandes Anderson that she can opt not to take the prosecution’s recommendation and impose a harsher sentence.

The charge of wire fraud can carry a sentence up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the sentence for a charge of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds can go up to 10 years in prison, along with carrying a fine up to $250,000.

The federal indictment mentions that Fernandes Anderson may have been motivated, in part, by the “personal financial difficulty” she was facing. Fernandes Anderson was staring down an impending $5,000 fine for a state ethics violation around that time period, for hiring two immediate family members to her City Council staff, giving them raises, and in the case of her sister, a bonus.

Fernandes Anderson was paid a $120,000 salary as a city councilor and represented District 7, which includes Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of the South End.

She was the first Muslim American, African immigrant and formerly undocumented person to be elected to the City Council, and first took office in January 2022.

Her resignation took effect about midway through her second term.

Eleven District 7 candidates have qualified to appear on the ballot for the Sept. 9 preliminary election. The two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary will move on to the Nov. 4 general election.

City officials have indicated that they would prefer to have the next District 7 councilor seated immediately after the November election, rather than continuing with the vacancy until the swearing-in ceremony in early January.

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