BOSTON — Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña was arraigned on a grand jury indictment Thursday on charges related to COVID relief fraud, though he did not physically appear in court.
DePeña requested that his appearance be waived, which was granted.
His attorney, Neil Faigel, said that request was “because he has to tend to the business of the city [of Lawrence] and this would’ve taken a long time, and this allows him to focus on working for the citizens of Lawrence.”
While DePeña did not physically appear in court, he was arraigned on 11 counts relating to charges accusing him of fraudulently obtaining a pandemic loan.
Story continues below Trending Shorts
Federal prosecutors say he “cashed in on a public health crisis,” using money meant for those struggling to stay afloat for his own personal benefit.
The 61-year-old is accused of obtaining a COVID-19 small business loan worth $1.5M for his tire sales business, Tenares Tire.
Though prosecutors say that money was spent elsewhere.
They say DePeña allegedly spent more than $880,000 to pay off high-interest mortgages on various businesses and put $90,000 into his mayoral campaign fund ahead of the 2021 election.
In court Thursday, a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf with his lawyer requesting that DePeña be allowed to travel throughout the state of Massachusetts, and now New Hampshire as well.
While this was a subsequent grand jury indictment, DePeña was arrested at his Lawrence home on Aug. 14, initially charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
He was released after agreeing to several conditions.
The scene outside the court that day was chaotic after the car DePeña was in collided with a parked car as he was leaving the court.
It was a very different scene on Thursday since DePeña did not physically appear in court for arraignment on the grand jury’s indictment.
Boston25’s Amal Elhelw asked DePeña’s attorney, Neil Faigel, if the request had anything to do with how his last arraignment went.
Faigel responded, “No, not at all. It just makes sense to do with this case.”
Faigel said it was simply so DePeña could tend to business as the mayor of Lawrence.
The judge has scheduled an initial status conference for Oct. 14 at 10:45 a.m.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
