Summary

• Tanzerious Anderson, convicted of first-degree murder in 2002, is being paroled after the MA Supreme Judicial Court ruled "emerging adults" can't get life without parole
• He shot and killed Imam Yazbek during a $40 robbery in Brighton when he was 19 years old
• His wife, disgraced ex-Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, just finished her own federal prison sentence for corruption
• The victim's brother begged the parole board to keep Anderson locked up: "I have no forgiveness for him"
• He's the 40th convicted murderer originally sentenced to life without parole to be freed under Massachusetts' lenient parole policies

BOSTON — Call it a Valentine's Day miracle for the Andersons.

Disgraced former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who served a month in federal prison last year for stealing from taxpayers, is getting the ultimate Valentine's gift: her convicted murderer husband is finally coming home.

The Massachusetts Parole Board has approved the release of Tanzerious Anderson, 44, who shot and killed a man during a robbery in Brighton nearly 26 years ago. He was originally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole — a sentence that was supposed to mean he would die behind bars.

Instead, he'll be free to reunite with his jailbird wife, first reported by the Boston Herald.

Former Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who was convicted of federal corruption charges in 2025, will soon welcome home her husband — a convicted murderer. (File photo: U.S. Army)

The murder

On March 27, 2000, Tanzerious Anderson was 19 years old when he and two accomplices planned to rob Imam Yazbek, a Lebanese immigrant and small business owner.

The setup was simple: Joleena Tate knew Yazbek carried cash and believed he wouldn't resist. She arranged to meet him for dinner, then lured him to an apartment complex on Faneuil Street in Brighton where Anderson and Jason Robinson were waiting.

When Yazbek arrived, Tate said "We're being robbed" and walked away, leaving him alone with the two men.

What happened next cost Yazbek his life — all for $40.

According to court records, Anderson and Robinson ordered Yazbek to keep his hands up and not look behind him. But Yazbek kept moving, reaching for the doorknob. He told the robbers he was a good person, didn't want any trouble, and knew people in the area.

Anderson claimed he thought Yazbek said "Police, police." Despite Yazbek denying he was a cop, Anderson panicked and shot him dead.

Life without parole — until it wasn't

In 2002, Anderson was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and illegal possession of a firearm. A judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

That was supposed to be the end of the story.

But in 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court changed everything with its ruling in Commonwealth v. Mattis. The court decided that "emerging adults" — those aged 18 to 20 at the time of their offense — could not be sentenced to life without parole because their brains weren't fully developed.

Anderson was 19 when he killed Yazbek. Suddenly, he was parole-eligible.

Massachusetts' revolving door for killers

Anderson isn't an anomaly. He's the latest beneficiary of Massachusetts' increasingly lenient approach to violent criminals.

According to Herald reporting, the Massachusetts Parole Board has now released at least 40 convicted murderers who were originally sentenced to die in prison. The Mattis ruling opened the floodgates, and families of murder victims have been left watching their loved ones' killers walk free.

The victim's brother pleaded with the parole board to keep Anderson locked up.

"He wasn't 13 or 14 years old at the time when he killed my brother, and he knew what he did," Yazbek's brother said in a statement. "I was told after the conviction that he will never come out of prison."

"He ruined my life, and my family's life," the brother continued. "I have no forgiveness for him."

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office also opposed Anderson's release. None of it mattered.

A love story behind bars

Tania Fernandes Anderson married Tanzerious in 2013 — a full 11 years before the Mattis ruling made his release even theoretically possible. At the time, he was serving what everyone believed was a permanent sentence.

She told Boston Magazine last year: "My friends asked me, 'Why, you have nothing with him, nothing physical, no support?' But when you know he is your person, you know. How dare I reject destiny?"

She has been pushing for his freedom ever since.

The councilor's own troubles

Tania Fernandes Anderson has her own criminal record now.

Last year, she pleaded guilty to wire fraud and theft concerning a federal program. The charges stemmed from a kickback scheme at Boston City Hall — she gave a relative on her staff a $13,000 bonus on the condition that $7,000 be kicked back to her.

The handoff happened in a City Hall bathroom in June 2023.

Federal prosecutors wanted her locked up for a year and a day. A judge gave her one month. She served her time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut — a minimum-security facility sometimes called "Club Fed."

She resigned from the City Council in disgrace.

"I'm incredibly sorry"

At his parole hearing, Tanzerious Anderson apologized to his victim's family.

"I can only presume he came to this country and started a business because he believed in the potential and possibility of the American dream, and because of cowardly actions, Mr. Yazbek was denied his dream and turned his American experience into a nightmare," Anderson said. "And for that, I'm incredibly sorry."

The Parole Board noted that Anderson had only one disciplinary report in 25 years behind bars, had participated in violence reduction and restorative justice programs, and was pursuing his associate degree.

They called him "low risk for violence and low risk for recidivism."

Imam Yazbek's family would probably disagree. But they don't get a vote.