Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña Arrested by FBI on Pandemic Loan Fraud and Money Laundering Charges
Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña was arrested on August 14, 2026, and charged with wire fraud and money laundering after federal prosecutors alleged he used over $1.5 million in COVID-19 small-business relief funds for personal expenses, campaign debts, and property mortgages, according to the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Office.
Federal agents took the second-term mayor into custody Friday morning, culminating an investigation into the financial activities surrounding his automotive business, Tenares Tire Services Inc. The arrest deals a governance blow to the industrial Massachusetts city located roughly 30 miles north of Boston, thrusting its municipal leadership into an immediate crisis just months after voters returned DePeña to office in November 2025.
“Mayor DePena was elected to be a leader for the City of Lawrence. He was looked up to and trusted by his constituents, but he betrayed that trust through his alleged corruption and lies,” U.S. Attorney Leah Foley stated in a press release announcing the charges.
Misuse of Economic Injury Disaster Loans at Tenares Tire Services
According to federal charging documents, the financial scrutiny centers on Economic Injury Disaster Loans distributed through the U.S. Small Business Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. EIDL funds were intended as working capital to help businesses survive economic injury caused by the pandemic.
DePeña applied for and initially secured a $150,000 loan for Tenares Tire Services Inc. in June 2020. While investigators noted that initial disbursement went toward working capital for the business, financial strain soon mounted elsewhere in the mayor’s financial portfolio. By early 2021, DePeña’s mayoral campaign was struggling to pay bills, and the business owner owed back taxes to the IRS alongside debts tied to private hard-money mortgages encumbering various properties he owned in Lawrence.
Seeking relief, DePeña requested an expansion of the tire shop’s disaster loan. Federal authorities deposited an additional $350,000 into the Tenares Tire bank account in August 2021.
Diverting Relief Capital to Private Debts and Campaign Accounts
Rather than sustaining the automotive enterprise, prosecutors allege the newly acquired federal capital flowed into personal and political ledgers. Court filings indicate that shortly after the wire deposit cleared, DePeña directed $85,000 toward personal tax liabilities with the IRS.
Simultaneously, the mayor transferred $120,000 of the EIDL funds into a personal bank account, writing checks totaling $90,000 to his municipal campaign, “The Committee to Elect Brian Depena.” Investigators state those transfers were deposited into the campaign account in September and October 2021 and characterized as candidate loans.
A portion of the diverted federal aid allegedly vanished into real estate liabilities. Charging documents reveal that in December 2021—shortly after taking his initial oath of office as mayor—DePeña paid $883,293 toward two high-interest loans held by private lenders against his local properties.
Political Fallout and Reactions Across Lawrence City Hall
The federal indictment compounds a tenure for DePeña, who first won election in November 2021 after serving on the Lawrence City Council from 2016 to 2021. Earlier this year, the mayor faced calls to resign after the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office opened an inquiry into allegations that the mayor’s office had secretly recorded conversations in City Hall.
Council President Jeovanny Rodriguez expressed shock regarding the federal arrest, noting to WBUR that while he and the mayor frequently clashed over government, he never suspected illicit activity within DePeña’s private commercial ventures.
“Me and the mayor, we have difference when it comes to government, but I never thought about anything related to his personal business,” Rodriguez told WBUR.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley stated the arrest is an example of a determination to root out fraud by anyone, even public officials and holding elected officials accountable. DePeña is scheduled to make his initial appearance before a federal judge in Boston on Friday afternoon.
