Corruption Trial Of Former Fall River Mayor Opens In Boston Federal Courthouse
In this Friday, Sept. 6, 2019, file photo, former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, left, speaks beside his attorney, Kevin Reddington, outside the federal courthouse in Boston after his appearance on bribery, extortion and fraud charges. Correia pleaded not guilty.
Philip Marcelo / AP
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Correia Trial Begins | April 26, 2021
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.
FALL RIVER Hoping to watch former mayor Jasiel Correia s trial from home? You re in luck.
Jury selection begins Tuesday, April 20, at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston. Perhaps a silver lining in the disruption caused by the pandemic is that the public will have the ability to watch the Correia trial remotely from their computers.
Despite having to oversee what could be a complicated case with 24 counts against the former mayor, including charges of political corruption it looks like U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock intends to run a tight ship during what could be a three-week trial.
BOSTON COVID-19 health safety concerns and possible intense media coverage in the upcoming 24-count extortion and fraud trial of former Mayor Jasiel Correia II were the top topics for federal court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock in a half-hour pre-trial conference on Friday. Jury selection is scheduled to start on April 20.
Woodlock indicated in a remote hearing that he has set aside four days for jury selection, in part due to restraints of capacity to accommodate the assembly of jurors at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston because of the pandemic.
The judge also offered a less-than-cloaked warning to media covering the high-profile trial.
Jo C. Goode
FALL RIVER Things were pretty quiet in 2020 in the case of U.S.A. v Jasiel Correia II during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That is until a couple weeks ago, when the former mayor’s co-defendant and onetime chief of staff Gen Andrade took a plea deal with the federal government to charges of extortion, bribery and lying to federal investigators.
During the Dec. 14 change-of-plea virtual hearing, Andrade pleaded guilty for her role in the alleged shakedown of one of four marijuana vendors seeking letters of non-opposition from Correia.
She also had to agree with Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Hafer’s account of what the government believes happened on July 18, 2018. On that day, according to Hafer, she and Correia met with “marijuana vendor #4,” Charles Saliby, when they met him at his convenience store to discuss a $250,000 payment in exchange for a letter of non-compliance.
On the list of witnesses likely to go on the stand in the case of the alleged SnoOwl investor fraud are a number of his young former business associates in SnoOwl and another company he founded, 1ZERO4 Business Academy, which he was operating while starting the app company in 2012.
Christopher Parayno, now on the list, was Correia’s first chief of staff after his mayoral win in 2015. Before the appointment, Parayno had been vice president of marketing for SnoOwl and associate director of 1ZERO4 Business Academy.
Afterjust five months as chief of staff, Parayno abruptly resigned. Correia later rehired him as head of the city’s cemeteries and trees, a position he continues to hold under Mayor Paul Coogan’s administration.