Former Fitchburg Senator Dean Tran has been found guilty by a federal jury of fraudulently filing for unemployment benefits due to the pandemic.
The former Republican candidate for Congress was also convicted of making false statements on federal tax returns.
The guilty verdicts on 23 charges were entered Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boston, according to the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy.
Tran was arrested in November 2023. Authorities said he earned $50,000 as a consultant for an auto parts company, in addition to thousands of dollars in income from his rental properties in Fitchburg.
He reported being unemployed at the time. Authorities said he received $30,120 in pandemic unemployment benefits during the same period.
The verdict is expected in the coming weeks.
The fraud case is not the only accusation Tran faces.
Tran was indicted in September 2023 on two counts of violating the state ethics law. The charges stem from a long-standing allegation that his senators campaigned for him on state time.
In July 2022, Tran was indicted for allegedly taking a firearm from an elderly voter and misleading investigators about what happened.
In 2020, Tran was defeated in the state Senate by Senator John Cronin, a Democrat. In 2022, he ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, but lost to incumbent U.S. Representative Lori Trahan.
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This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Dean Tran of Fitchburg, former senator, convicted of fraud during pandemic
