A federal court filing indicates Monica Cannon-Grant has asked to schedule a change-of-plea hearing, a step that could signal she intends to enter a guilty or no-contest plea in the fraud case stemming from her leadership of the nonprofit Violence in Boston Inc.
The short docket entry reads, "The defendant, Monica Cannon-Grant, respectfully requests that the Court schedule a change of plea hearing, pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure." The Boston Herald first reported there may be a plea arrangement, but court filings do not specify whether any plea would address all counts or some subset of the indictment. When contacted by the Daily Mail about the matter, Cannon-Grant responded with profanity-laced messages, writing in one email, "Respectfully F**k You!" and referencing the death of her husband.
Cannon-Grant and her late husband, Clark Grant, were indicted in 2022 on dozens of federal counts alleging a scheme to divert charitable contributions and pandemic relief funds for personal use. The indictment charges Cannon-Grant with 27 counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, making false statements on a mortgage application and tax violations. Prosecutors allege the couple used donations and grants intended for the nonprofit to pay for vacations, restaurant bills, salon visits, a car and housing expenses.
Authorities say Violence in Boston raised more than $1 million during the period under investigation and received roughly $54,000 in pandemic relief funds that prosecutors say were meant to provide meals for people in need. Prosecutors have also alleged that Cannon-Grant directed co-conspirators to apply for public and private grants on the nonprofit's behalf and that at least one $10,400 grant from a department store, intended to feed children, was laundered through a church to pay back rent.
Court records and investigative filings say Cannon-Grant paid herself $2,788 per week from the nonprofit beginning in October 2020, a figure prosecutors say contradicts public statements and an IRS filing in which she reported receiving no salary. A message quoted by authorities, allegedly sent by Cannon-Grant to her husband in March 2021, read, "Unemployment caught my ass. Asked me to provide documents by June, unless I’ll have to pay it all back." Those communications appear in the government's court filings as part of its case.
Cannon-Grant rose to prominence in 2020 after organizing a large march in Boston following the killing of George Floyd and forging a partnership with a restaurant that leaders said provided more than 1,000 free meals a day during the pandemic. She founded Violence in Boston in 2017 and expanded its operations from her home to a larger headquarters in Hyde Park by 2020, a period when the charity reported receiving substantial donations.
Board members removed Cannon-Grant from her role at Violence in Boston in 2022 and the nonprofit was later closed. Clark Grant, who was accused alongside his wife in the indictment, died in a motorcycle crash in Easton, Massachusetts, in March 2023.
The case has proceeded slowly on the federal docket, in part because Cannon-Grant has cycled through multiple defense lawyers. Court filings show she has had five defense attorneys; two were added after her former retained lawyer, Christopher Malcolm, was suspended from practicing law in Massachusetts. Current counsel George Vien and Emma Notis-McConarty received the case files from Malcolm in June, according to filings. U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley set a jury trial to begin Oct. 14.
Federal prosecutors have detailed the charges in court filings but have not publicly released the terms of any plea negotiations, and Cannon-Grant's defense team has not filed a public statement outlining a proposed resolution. Requests for comment from the U.S. Attorney's Office and Cannon-Grant's lawyers were not returned. The Daily Mail contacted Cannon-Grant and reported she replied to inquiries with profanity and declined to answer questions about the allegations and the possible plea.