Fall River Mayor Jaisel Correia Could Be Ousted By City Council

FALL RIVER, MA — Mayor Jaisel Correia's tumultuous term could face at least a temporary end Tuesday night. The Fall River City Coucil will meet to decide whether to oust Correia, who arrived to work Monday fresh off pleading not guilty to federal charges for the second time in a year.

The City Council needs seven of nine votes to oust Correia. The 27-year-old would be replaced by City Council President Cliff Ponte as acting mayor.

Correia, who was arrested Friday, is accused of several crimes, including extorting marijuana vendors for several hundred thousand dollars and forcing his chief of staff to pay half her salary to him in order to keep her job. Correia told the media outside the court he would not resign, insisting he will "continue to do great things" for the historic mill city in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Correia already pleaded not guilty after being arrested last year on charges that he defrauded investors in his start-up app of hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund a lavish lifestyle.

This is not the first time the city has tried to oust Correia, who at 23 was the youngest mayor elected in the city's history. In March, the residents of Fall River opted to remove Correia in a recall election — but the following question was who should replace Correia, who found his way onto that same ballot along with four other candidates. Correia, despite essentially being recalled immediately before, won that election as the other candidates split votes.