Former senator Tran indicted on 2 counts
Republican allegedly used staff for campaign work, violated state ethics
Former state senator Dean A. Tran was indicted Friday for allegedly violating the state ethics law by using members of his legislative staff to campaign for him during his 2018 and 2020 reelection campaigns.
The Fitchburg Republican faces two counts of using his official position “to secure an unwarranted privilege,” according to Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who is a Democrat. Tran was indicted by the Suffolk County grand jury convened at the attorney general’s request, and will be arraigned in Suffolk County Superior Court at a later date.
Campbell alleges Tran used members of his Senate staff to campaign for him while those staff members were on the clock and purportedly working for the Legislature. They allegedly organized fund-raisers, knocked on doors, and crafted campaign mailers during work hours at the MassGOP campaign regional field office in Fitchburg.
His lawyer, Joseph Rogers, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The charges come three months after Tran’s Fitchburg home was raided by the FBI. Tran also faces six charges in a separate case related to a 2019 incident in which he allegedly stole a gun from an elderly constituent and misled investigators about what happened.
A Worcester grand jury indicted Tran last year on charges of filing an application for a license to carry that contained false information, larceny of a firearm, larceny over $250 from a person who is elderly or disabled, misleading a police investigation, obtaining a signature by false pretenses with intent to defraud, and stealing by confining or putting in fear.
The July indictment also alleges that Tran made false statements on a renewal application for a license to carry a gun in May 2019.
Tran, a one-time congres
sional candidate, denied the charges and in response filed a lawsuit in federal court against then-Attorney General Maura Healey, accusing her of a politically motivated attack. Her office filed a motion to dismiss the suit.
According to Healey’s office, Tran used his position as an elected official to intimidate an elderly constituent into giving him at least eight of her late husband’s guns. He allegedly made her sign a contract and paid her $1,500 in cash.
That case, which was filed in Worcester Superior Court, is ongoing. He is scheduled to face trial in February 2024.
Last June, the FBI searched Tran’s home to search for evidence in connection with an ongoing federal investigation.
In a statement at the time, Tran’s lawyer said his “office has been made aware of the fact that federal investigators visited Mr. Tran’s home this morning and executed a search warrant” but declined to comment further.
The concern around Tran’s potential ethics violations was originally referred to Campbell’s office by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance following a 2020 report from the Senate Committee on Ethics that found Tran inappropriately used his Senate staff to conduct campaign activities.
According to the report, staff repeatedly complained to the Senate’s human resources department that Tran asked staffers to conduct campaign work — like printing copies of campaign fund-raising forms — using public resources.
As a result of the report, he was stripped of his leadership position with the Senate GOP caucus and barred from interacting with his staff.
At the time, Tran denied the allegations and asserted that his staff was “totally autonomous,” according to the report.
Under the state’s conflict of interest law, state, county and municipal public employees are prohibited from using public resources in connection with political campaigns or other private political activity. This includes engaging in political activity on public work time.