BOSTON — Former state Sen. Dean Tran is facing more legal trouble stemming from an alleged scheme to defraud the state’s unemployment benefits system.
Tran, 50, of Fitchburg, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of obstruction of justice and one count of making a false statement before U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, according to the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley’s office.
Tran was sentenced to federal prison in February for stealing unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic and concealing business income from federal tax collectors.
Federal prosecutors say Tran collected more than $30,120 in pandemic unemployment benefits despite also working as a paid consultant for a New Hampshire-based auto parts company. He was indicted along with his sister, Tuyet T. Martin.
During the investigation, federal authorities searched Tran’s home and found a letter he claimed had been sent by his sister to the state Department of Unemployment Assistance claiming he was unemployed and needed to have his benefits restored. But prosecutors say Tran lied to investigators by telling them sister had written and signed the letter.
The new charges are among the myriad legal challenges facing the former lawmaker and GOP congressional candidate, who is currently serving an 18-month sentence in federal prison.
Tran was also indicted by then-Attorney General Maura Healey in 2022 on the state charges related to theft of a firearm and witness intimidation.
Prosecutors said Tran conned an elderly woman in June 2019 into giving him her late husband’s firearms. The woman was allegedly coerced by Tran into signing a contract, prosecutors said, and given $1,500 in cash for at least eight guns.
The indictment alleged that after Tran was asked to return the firearms, he “forced his way into the constituent’s home while she was alone, demanded the keys to her husband’s gun safe, and stole a Colt .45 while the constituent hid in her bedroom.”
At the time, he denied any wrongdoing and claimed the charges were “politically” and “racially” motivated because of his Vietnamese ancestry.
That case was scheduled to go to trial in June when state prosecutors announced a deal that required Tran to plead guilty to the charges of stealing a firearm from an elderly constituent and misleading investigators. He agreed to a six month prison sentence.
Separately, Tran was indicted on charges that he violated state ethics laws by using his Beacon Hill staffers to campaign for him. In September, the Supreme Judicial Court rejected a move by Tran’s attorneys to get those charges dismissed.
Tran, of Fitchburg, was elected to the state Senate in 2017 with support from Republican Gov. Charlie Baker after winning a special election to fill a vacancy. He was re-elected in 2018 to a second term, but lost his seat in 2020 to Democrat John Cronin.
He ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Rep. Lori Trahan, a Westford Democrat, in the 2022 3rd Congressional District race, receiving about 36% of the vote.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.