Disgraced Boston Metropolis Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who was convicted final month on federal corruption expenses, mentioned she has formally resigned and that her final day will likely be on Independence Day.
“Today, I want to share with you that I have officially submitted my letter of resignation,” Fernandes Anderson mentioned Thursday in a press release to her constituents. “My final day serving as your metropolis councilor will likely be Friday, July 4, 2025.
“It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve you, my neighbors, my community, my people. Every policy I wrote, every budget line I fought for, every block I walked was rooted in love and loyalty to you, District 7.”
Fernandes Anderson, 46, was federally indicted and arrested final December. Mayor Michelle Wu and 5 of her council colleagues, together with the council president, known as for her quick resignation on the time — calls that Fernandes Anderson defied for months.
She pleaded responsible in early Might to 2 of six federal corruption expenses — one rely of wire fraud and one rely of theft regarding a federal program — that have been lodged towards her in final 12 months’s indictment. 4 different wire fraud expenses have been dropped as a part of a plea deal she entered into with federal prosecutors this previous April.
The fees are tied to a kickback scheme Fernandes Anderson carried out at Metropolis Corridor two years in the past. The second-term councilor doled out a $13,000 bonus to certainly one of her Council staffers, a relative however not quick member of the family, on the situation that $7,000 be kicked again to her. The handoff was coordinated by textual content and befell in a Metropolis Corridor rest room in June 2023, the federal indictment states.
Councilors will be faraway from the physique solely after sentencing for a felony, somewhat than conviction, per state regulation.
Fernandes Anderson is about to be sentenced in federal courtroom on July 29. U.S. Lawyer Leah Foley has really helpful that the councilor be sentenced to a 12 months and day in jail and ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution.
The federal choose presiding over the case has warned Fernandes Anderson that she will be able to decide to not take the prosecution’s advice and impose a harsher sentence.
The cost of wire fraud can carry a sentence as much as 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fantastic, whereas the sentence for a cost of theft regarding packages receiving federal funds can go as much as 10 years in jail, together with carrying a fantastic as much as $250,000.
The federal indictment mentions that Fernandes Anderson could have been motivated, partly, by the “personal financial difficulty” she was going through. Fernandes Anderson was staring down an impending $5,000 fantastic for a state ethics violation round that point interval, for hiring two quick members of the family to her Metropolis Council employees, giving them raises, and within the case of her sister, a bonus.
Fernandes Anderson is paid a $120,000 wage as a metropolis councilor and represents District 7, which incorporates Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and a part of the South Finish. She was the primary Muslim American, African immigrant and previously undocumented individual to be elected to the Metropolis Council, and first took workplace in January 2022.
Eleven District 7 candidates have certified to seem on the poll for the Sept. 9 preliminary election. The 2 candidates who obtain essentially the most votes within the major will transfer on to the Nov. 4 normal election.
Metropolis officers have indicated that they would favor to have the subsequent District 7 councilor seated instantly after the November election, somewhat than persevering with with the emptiness till the swearing-in ceremony in early January.
Fernandes Anderson mentioned Thursday that she has been centered of late on getting ready a transition plan for the district. She mentioned she has assembled a district workbook, “not just to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, but to ensure the work lives on, accessible, actionable and owned by you and your next councilor.”
She mentioned she will likely be transferring her District 7 web site and social media platforms to the subsequent councilor, together with district-oriented databases, info and analysis, and “will be encouraging the next councilor to carry forward” a few of her key initiatives.
“Thank you for trusting me, challenging me, and building with me,” Fernandes Anderson mentioned. “While my chapter as your councilor ends, my service to this community continues in new forms. I leave you not with an end, but with the tools to keep going, stronger and together.”
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