BOSTON — Monica Cannon-Grant, the founder of the nonprofit Violence in Boston, plans to plead guilty to federal charges of defrauding people who donated to her organization.
In a one-page document filed in federal court in Boston on Friday, Canon-Grant requested a change of plea hearing.
Cannon-Grant faces a 27-count indictment on charges including wire fraud, mail fraud, making false statements, and filing false tax returns, among other offenses.
Federal investigators have alleged that Cannon-Grant, and her husband, Clark Grant, “solicited and received over $1 million in donations and grants from individuals, charitable institutions and other entities.”
The indictment alleged that Cannon-Grant and her husband spent much of that money on themselves, including paying auto and insurance bills, extravagant nail salon trips, high-priced dinners, and a vacation to Maryland, among other financial transactions.
The couple allegedly also received nearly $54,000 in pandemic relief funds into their charity’s bank account, but spent much of that on themselves as well.
Cannon-Grant rose to fame after she organized protests and championed the Black Lives Matter Movement in Boston in 2020 following the killing of Goerge Floyd at the hands of police.
Her husband was later killed in a motorcylce crash in Easton in March 2023.
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