Topline: When Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson faces trial on public corruption charges, she’ll have the help of a public defender meant for those who can’t afford an attorney, the Boston Herald reported.

Anderson made $103,500 in 2023, according to payroll records at OpenTheBooks.com.

Key facts: Anderson allegedly organized a kickback scheme that netted her thousands of dollars of federal and city funds. The FBI arrested her in December, charged with wire fraud and theft. She has denied all wrongdoing.

Despite her decent public salary, Anderson said she is unable to pay for her own lawyer.

Court filings noted her “personal financial difficulty … which included missing monthly rent and car payments, an impending $5,000 civil liability from the Ethics Commission, and incurring bank overdraft fees, which resulted from Fernandes Anderson maintaining low daily bank balances,” according to the Boston Herald.

Attorneys appointed by the Federal Defender Program earn $172 per hour in non-capital cases.

Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.

Critical quote: “It’s more than ironic that a woman who said she cared about the struggles of her constituents of limited means is taking money from the public coffers — money that could otherwise be used to help the very people she claimed to care about,” said Wendy Murphy, an attorney and columnist at the Boston Herald. “With such a good salary she should have to at least contribute.”

Background: While not all public defenders work with high-profile clients, many rake in huge profits from taxpayers. That’s on top of the often lucrative salaries they can earn in their private practice.

Federal defenders working on capital cases earn up to $220 per hour.

Hourly rates vary at the state level. Court-appointed attorneys in Maryland can legally earn up to $164 per hour, more than any other state, though the Maryland Public Defender Office told OpenTheBooks their budget only allows them to pay $75 per hour.

In New York, some lawyers are earning up to $428,000 per year from taxpayers while still earning a salary from their private firm, according to Buffalo News.

Summary: If Fernandes Anderson is guilty, she’s already taken enough from taxpayers without billing them for her legal fees.

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