Federal prosecutors opened their bribery and fraud case Monday against former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, saying he betrayed both investors and constituents before and during his tenure as mayor.
Correia, who rose quickly to the top elected office in the city at the age of 23, faces two dozen federal charges of extortion, wire fraud and bribery. Prosecutors say he took hundreds of thousands of dollars to live a lavish lifestyle and to pay off his student loan debt.
“This is a case about lying, cheating, stealing and shakedowns,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Hafer said in his opening statement in Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston.
Hafer called Correia “a politician who betrayed his constituents by selling his power to enrich himself.”
Prosecutors say Correia shook down marijuana businesses trying to win permits for dispensaries in Fall River.
Correia’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, denied the charges in an opening statement to jurors, saying that Correia didn’t defraud anyone.
“There's nobody that was duped by this guy,” Reddington said, addressing the federal charges related to investments made in Correia’s app for smartphones, SnoOwl. “There was no intent to defraud, and there was no intent to steal.”
Four of Correia’s former business partners and associates testified Monday afternoon as prosecutors questioned how Correira in 2013 – then a Fall River city councilor earning $16,000 a year – could afford to gamble in local casinos and pay for hotels and dinners on out-of-state trips.
The trial is one of the first to happen in Boston’s federal court since the pandemic began. It’s expected to last several weeks.
Due to social distancing precautions, only 26 people have been allowed inside the courtroom, including jurors, Correia and his defense attorneys and prosecutors.
When Correia won the mayor’s office in 2016 at age 23, he became the youngest person to lead the city. Two years later, he was indicted by U.S. attorneys for allegedly defrauding investors in SnoOwl. In 2019, Correia was arrested again on bribery and extortion charges connected with the marijuana permits.
