Cannon-Grant gets new attorney
The federal case against alleged fraudster Monica Cannon-Grant has hit the brakes yet again, as she retains new counsel and the trial date scheduled for next month has been canceled.
“Kindly enter my appearance on behalf of Defendant, MONICA CANNON-GRANT in connection with the above-captioned matter,” wrote attorney Christopher Malcolm on Tuesday in a filing that appeared in the case docket on Thursday.
Malcolm is the third attorney to represent Cannon-Grant in the federal case in which she and her husband, Clark Grant, face 18 fraud-related counts related to their management of the charity Violence in Boston.
The couple were indicted in March 2022 on charges that they used “a substantial amount” of the money donated or granted to their charity for anti-violence work to instead enrich themselves, with funds going toward paying back rent to nail salon appointments and restaurant meals.
They have each pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Robert Goldstein, her first retained attorney, withdrew from the case in early September of last year.
His departure followed the news in July that Violence in Boston had ceased all operations and shut down and, then that Cannon-Grant had applied for and was granted the right to apply for state unemployment benefits.
On Sept. 9, two days after Goldstein had motioned to withdraw, the court appointed attorney Keith Halpern to the case.
The size of the case before him — prosecutors define the evidence as a “substantial amount of material” at more than 2.2. Terabytes of virtual documents — was immediately overwhelming, according to Halpern’s status report filings. In one December entry, Halpern said that he believed the case had produced “substantially more discovery … than in the entire MS-13 case,” in which there were numerous defendants.
Halpern’s tenure as courtappointed attorney was taxpayer funded. Malcolm is a retained attorney, and he told the Herald Thursday evening that his services are paid for by a nonprofit organization set up for Cannon-Grant’s defense.
Malcolm, a solo practitioner currently operating out of Holliston, said that the trial date cancellation had come before he was assigned to the case but that he welcomes it as it will take a while to get up to speed.
He said that Halpern is “a great attorney” but that Cannon-Grant is excited to have a private attorney again so the case “is getting the attention it deserves.”
“It’s more about getting someone that you trust,” Malcolm said. “It makes such a difference about how you feel at the end of the day.”