WORCESTER – Former state Senator Dean Tran has been charged in connection with an incident involving his alleged theft of a firearm from an elderly constituent and subsequent efforts to mislead investigators about what happened, Attorney General Maura Healey announced on Friday.
Tran, 46, of Fitchburg, was indicted on Friday by a Worcester Grand Jury on the charges of Larceny of a Firearm (1 count), Larceny Over $250 from Person +60/Disabled (1 count), Filing an Application for a License to Carry Containing False Information (1 count), Obtaining a Signature by False Pretenses with Intent to Defraud (1 count), Misleading a Police Investigation (1 count), and Stealing by Confining or Putting in Fear (1 count).
Tran, a Republican, is running for election for the state’s 3rd congressional district. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on September 6, 2022.
Tran served in the state Senate from 2017 to 2020. In 2005, Tran became the first person of color to be elected to the City Council in Fitchburg. He served on the Fitchburg City Council for 12 years.
The attorney general’s office alleges in June 2019 while visiting an elderly constituent, Tran used his position of trust as a public official to intimidate the constituent into parting with her late husband’s firearms, making her sign a pre-prepared contract and giving her $1,500 in cash for at least eight guns. When asked to return them the next day, he did, but came back early the following morning and allegedly forced his way into the constituent’s home while she was alone, demanded the keys to her husband’s gun safe, and stole a Colt .45 while the constituent hid in her bedroom. The gun was returned to the constituent at a later date.
When interviewed by police about the incident, Tran allegedly gave multiple conflicting stories and reasons for taking the guns away, including denying any type of firearm sale, later producing a sales contract for the weapons, and disparaging the constituent’s mental capacity before demanding a written apology from her.
The attorney general’s office also alleges that Tran made false statements on his May 2019 license-to-carry renewal application.
Tran will be arraigned in Worcester Superior Court at a later date.
