Former Worcester & Middlesex State Senator Sentenced to 18 Months for Pandemic Unemployment Fraud

A former state senator for Worcester and Middlesex Counties is going to prison for 18 months. The US Department of Justice says Dean Tran was sentenced last week for committing unemployment fraud during the pandemic. Prosecutors say after Tran’s Senate term ended in 2021, he fraudulently received $30,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits while he was working as a paid consultant for a New Hampshire company and also collecting thousands of dollars in rental income from property he owned. After the 18 months, he will also serve two years of supervised release.