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Posted on 08/18/2026 2:56:20 PM PDT by DFG
A smirking mayor refused to answer questions outside of court after being charged with fraudulently obtaining pandemic loans worth over $1 million and using the money to fund his election campaign as well as pay off high-interest mortgages.
Brian DePena, the Mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and a Dominican native, made an initial appearance in federal court in Boston Friday, where he was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
He was released after agreeing to several conditions, including turning his passport over and not seeking any loans without court approval, the Associated Press reports.
Despite the charges, footage from outside the court shows the 61-year-old smiling and waving at the press gaggle and responding "God bless" when asked if he would resign.
His lawyer repeatedly said "no comment" as he was being asked the questions, before adding: "He doesn't speak English."
DePena is accused of obtaining over $1.5 million in COVID small-business loans for his tire sales business. However, he allegedly used some of the proceeds to fund his mayoral campaign, pay personal taxes and pay off over $880,000 in high-interest mortgages for various properties in Lawrence, the United States Attorney's Office said.
United States Attorney Leah B Foley said DePena 'was looked up to and trusted by his constituents, but he betrayed that trust through his alleged corruption and lies.'
DePena was elected Mayor of Lawrence in November of 2021 and was reelected in November of 2025. He previously served on the Lawrence City Council for six years.
The viral clip of the mayor outside the courtroom sparked debate online over whether DePena, whose office confirmed that he has used interpreters in the past, should be able to speak English.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
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He looks nice.
*SMIRK*
How was his election even possible? Is Lawrence, Ma. full of
Dominican’s or something?
Most likely the females ...
“s Lawrence, Ma. full of
Dominican’s or something?”
Uh, MA is full of shi...er...Obamastuff.
On its best day.
Portions of MIT may be worth salvaging. The rest?
Earth shattering kaboom.
Send a Southy to give him a necktie.
Blame the voters more than the mayor. If you go jump in the ocean with a shark, you don’t blame the shark for eating you.
I agree. What are the voters thinking? Do they REALLY think it is ok to have a mayor who does’t speak English> What kind of voters think that is ok?
An illegal alien mayor. Who let this happen?
That MFer should be picking his teeth out of the gutter like Chiclets.
Clown World
MAYBE HE CAN MOVE TO CALIF & SELL THOSE SPECIAL TIRES THEY ARE DEMANDING OUT THERE........
Why are FReepers still acting as if Democrats use eligible live voters to get into office?
The thread is about a guy who happily scammed $1M and has the support of his party to mount a defense after doing it. How do we think he got there?
Mayor DePena doesnt speak English --- is accused of fraud---of obtaining over $1.5 million in COVID small-business loans for his tire sales business. He allegedly used some of the fraud to fund his mayoral campaign, pay personal taxes and pay off over $880,000 in high-interest mortgages for various properties in Lawrence, the US Attorney's Office said.
When I was in the Navy and we went to Boston for a port call and had liberty (1980), they told us to stay away for the three L’s ( Lynn, Lawrence and Lowell). Of course that was our clue to the three places we were to prioritize to have a good time. But it turned out, the Combat Zone in downtown Boston was the best. The three L’s were pretty lame. We tried them all. But, later in life I lived right next to Lawrence and it was packed full of anti-American Latinos, Muslims, Asians, etc. But I escaped Massachusetts in 2008, so I imagine it’s worse now but I am not there to say positively.
There is no question that MA is a Liberal state.
But is it really so very Liberal? As a lifelong resident, I say, “No”. There are Conservatives here and not just a few of us. But I am convinced that the elections are fraudulent. OF COURSE the Liberal wins. Who can be “surprised” by such an outcome? But I think the whole thing is dirty and if we had honest elections in this state, we would not see quite so many Liberals in office.
He’s lying, ok?? Drama drama drama Dems dems dem
“”He doesn’t speak English.”
…” Lawrence mayoral election
In Lawrence, incumbent Brian De Pena won re-election against Juan “Manny” Gonzalez in the mayor’s race. According to unofficial results, De Pena earned 5,982 votes to Gonzalez’s 5,110.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin’s office said it would be monitoring the election in Lawrence after “numerous complaints” about absentee ballot applications. “ …
he looks like a fat Pedro Martinez
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