Former Boston City Councilor Sentenced to Prison for Federal Public Corruption Charges

BOSTON - 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.

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.

"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," said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. "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."

"Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson let the power she wielded go to her head and routinely put herself over her constituents who trusted her to act on their behalf and for their benefit. Today's sentence holds her accountable for flagrantly embracing a culture of fraud and deceit and brazenly pocketing taxpayer money inside a City Hall bathroom to feather her nest," said Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. "Make no mistake, the FBI will continue to investigate and bring to justice unscrupulous public officials. We simply can't permit such corruption to go unchecked."

"The sentencing of Tania Fernandes Anderson demonstrates that no one is above the law," said Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office. "Fernandes Anderson used her position as a trusted elected official to steal from the City of Boston and the American taxpayers. IRS-CI is committed to identifying, investigating, and prosecuting all instances of public corruption, both in the Commonwealth and across New England."

In or about 2022, Fernandes Anderson hired two members of her immediate family as salaried employees of her City Council staff, which was in violation of Massachusetts state conflict of interest law. As a result, Fernandes Anderson was required to terminate their salaried employment in or about August 2022. In May 2023, the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission notified Fernandes Anderson that it would be seeking a $5,000 civil penalty payment from her as a result of this violation.

In or about November 2022, Fernandes Anderson emailed a City of Boston employee regarding the hiring of Staff Member A - a relative of Fernandes Anderson who was not an immediate family member - as a salaried employee. In her email to the City of Boston employee, Fernandes Anderson falsely represented that she and Staff Member A were not related.

From in or about early to mid-2023, Fernandes Anderson was facing personal financial difficulty, which included the outstanding $5,000 civil penalty payment to the Ethics Commission. In or about early May 2023, Fernandes Anderson told Staff Member A that she would give them extra pay in the form of a large bonus, but that Staff Member A would have to give a portion of the bonus back to Fernandes Anderson. Staff Member A later agreed to the arrangement with Fernandes Anderson.

On May 3, 2023, Fernandes Anderson emailed a City of Boston employee instructing them to process a $13,000 bonus for Staff Member A - more than twice the total bonuses given to her other staff - without disclosing the repayment arrangement. Staff Member A deposited the check on May 26, 2023 and, following Fernandes Anderson's instructions, made three separate cash withdrawals over the following weeks in the amounts of $3,000; $3,000; and $4,000. Following the last withdrawal on June 9, 2023, the two met in a bathroom at Boston City Hall, where Staff Member A handed Fernandes Anderson $7,000 in cash.

Additionally, in 2022 and 2023, Fernandes Anderson used funds from her campaign account for her own personal enrichment, and not for campaign-related expenses. For tax years 2021, 2022 and 2023, Fernandes Anderson also filed fraudulent federal income tax returns with the IRS. Specifically, Fernandes Anderson omitted approximately $11,000 in income that she earned from a Massachusetts-based corporation from her 2021 tax return; willfully omitted campaign funds that she used for her own personal enrichment from her 2022 and 2023 tax returns; and willfully omitted the $7,000 kickback that she received from Staff Member A from her 2023 tax return.

From January 2022 to July 2025, Fernandes Anderson served as City Councilor for Boston's District 7, which includes Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of Boston's South End. She was first elected to a two-year term in November 2021 and won re-election in November 2023. On June 12, 2025, Fernandes Anderson tendered her resignation from Boston's City Council, which took effect on July 4, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Foley, FBI SAC Docks and IRS Acting SAC Demeo made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Mulcahy and Dustin Chao of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case.