By
- Ryan Mancini | RMancini@masslive.com
Hours after Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson said she will plead guilty to the federal corruption charges against her, she said that she plans to resign from her position.
In a statement obtained by NBC 10 Boston, Fernandes Anderson said she will plead guilty and “resolve the case brought against me.”
“I would like to apologize to my constituents, supporters, and all who have been impacted,” she said. “Please forgive me. I will be resigning. It is the right thing to do. In [the] coming days, I will evaluate transition plans and timeline with the District 7 Advisory Council. I will do everything possible to make an orderly exit to ensure my constituents’ needs are met.”
The council member added that she will not comment further, but has “more to say at the appropriate time in court ... I pray that the press will respect my privacy, as well as the privacy of my family.”
In the status report filed by U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office, prosecutors wrote that Fernandes Anderson had signed a plea agreement but did not provide any information on what was in the agreement.
Fernandes Anderson was arrested in December on charges that she ran a kickback scheme with a family member whom she employed in her City Hall office, using public funds to help with her own financial struggles. At the time, she pleaded not guilty.
In the December indictment, Fernandes Anderson hired a family member to run constituent services in late 2022 and falsely reported that they were not related. She paid the family member a large bonus five months later, with the understanding that they would return some of the money to her.
The person later met Fernandes Anderson in a City Hall bathroom to hand over $7,000 cash, prosecutors said.
She pleaded guilty to one count each of aiding and abetting wire fraud and aiding and abetting theft concerning a program receiving federal funds, according to Tuesday’s agreement.
In the agreement, prosecutors recommended Fernandes Anderson serve 12 months and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and pay $26,000 on top of an additional fine to be set by the court.
The $26,000 prosecutors recommended consists of restitution and forfeiture of $13,000 each, equal to the amount Fernandes Anderson received from the kickback scheme.
The maximum sentence for aiding and abetting wire fraud is up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000. Aiding and abetting theft concerning a program receiving federal funds carries an additional maximum sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
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