Former Massachusetts State Senator Dean A. Tran has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for defrauding the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and failing to report income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV in Boston.
Tran, aged 48 and a resident of Fitchburg, will also serve two years of supervised release following his prison term. He has been ordered to pay restitution totaling $25,100 to the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and $23,327 to the IRS. Additionally, he faces a fine of $7,500 and a mandatory assessment fee of $2,300.
In September 2024, Tran was convicted on 20 counts of wire fraud and three counts related to filing false tax returns. His indictment by a federal grand jury occurred in November 2023.
Tran represented Worcester and Middlesex Counties in the Massachusetts State Senate from 2017 until January 2021. After his term ended, he illegally received pandemic unemployment benefits while employed as a consultant for an automotive parts retailer based in New Hampshire. During this period, Tran collected $30,120 in unemployment benefits fraudulently.
Furthermore, Tran failed to disclose $54,700 earned as consulting income from the Automotive Parts Company on his 2021 federal tax return. This omission was part of a broader pattern where he concealed additional income obtained from renting out property in Fitchburg between 2020 and 2022.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley commented on the case: “When Dean Tran took his oath of office as a Massachusetts State Senator, he willingly entered into a world of being in the public eye. He chose to violate the public’s trust not once but twice by defrauding the government out of unemployment benefits and willfully omitting his taxable income.”
Jonathan Mellone from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General stated: “Former Massachusetts State Senator Dean Tran stole taxpayer funds intended for American workers who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Thomas Demeo from IRS Criminal Investigation emphasized that "no one is above the law," noting that elected officials are held to higher standards when serving the public.
Jodi Cohen from FBI Boston Division added: “The FBI and our partners will continue to crack down on frauds like this because willfully defrauding the government and cheating honest taxpayers is a federal crime.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Chao and John T. Mulcahy from the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit.
The COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force was established by Attorney General Merrick Garland on May 17, 2021, with an aim to combat pandemic-related fraud through coordinated efforts across various governmental agencies.
Reports regarding attempted COVID-19 fraud can be submitted via the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline or its web complaint form.