Ex-Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia Pushes Back Jail For Seventh Time

FALL RIVER, MA — Originally sentenced to six years in prison, former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia has successfully pushed his prison reporting date back a seventh time.

On Monday, a federal judge granted Correia the delay but denied his request to remain out on bail indefinitely pending his appeal of his corruption conviction.

Correia, 30, was supposed to report to federal prison on Tuesday after being convicted last May on 21 counts of wire fraud, filing false tax returns, and extortion.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock - the same judge who tossed out 10 counts of Correia's original 21 counts due to technicalities of the law - allowed him to push the date back to April 22, citing a "reasonable period" to see if the 1st U.S. Court of Appeals disagrees with him on the ruling.

This is the seventh time Correia has been granted a delay since November when he said his family's small business needed help during the holidays.

The next delay was prompted by the COVID-19 surge, followed by his pending appeal, and then the Bureau of Prisons said they "couldn't accommodate a self-surrender on the weekend."

Correia, who was elected mayor at just 23 years old in 2015, indicated this was the final time he would be delaying his prison date, but that could change based on a decision by the appeals court.

Last month, his lawyers said in a brief that his sixth delay request would be his last, due to his co-defendant having her change of plea and sentencing date scheduled for March 7.

Elected the youngest mayor in Fall River's history, Correia reluctantly stepped down from intense pressure after he was accused of bankrolling his lavish lifestyle by defrauding investors and taking bribes from marijuana companies.

Prosecutors said he used more than $230,000 of investor's money from his defunct "SnoOwl" app on a Mercedes, designer clothing, adult entertainment, student loans, and dating services. But that didn't keep Correia from trying to stay in office. In May 2019, amid the allegations, voters opted to recall him, but the next step on the ballot was to choose his successor, and he outperformed four other candidates.

Federal prosecutors expressed frustration that Correia gets to remain out of prison more than six months after his sentencing. Woodlock addressed this in a footnote included in the order Monday, saying he "recognized the frustration" some of the victims were feeling, but "must maintain the position that the defendant is entitled to the full scope of due process rights federal law provides."

Correia served as Mayor of Fall River from 2016 to 2020.

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