Jasiel Correia II won’t be getting out of prison any time soon.
The former Fall River Mayor’s appeal was denied by a panel of three U.S. Court of Appeals judges in an 82-page opinion released Monday.
“The record reveals that the defendant was fairly tried and lawfully convicted by an impartial jury in a trial presided over by an able judge and unblemished by any reversible error,” the opinion read.
The opinion affirmed Correia’s conviction for charges related to extortion, wire fraud, and filing false tax returns, among other things. Correia was sentenced to six years in federal prison and after delays due to COVID-19 and personal reasons, he started serving his sentence in April.
Correia was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release.
Correia has been making headlines even before his legal troubles. He became the youngest mayor in Fall River history when he was elected at just 23 years-old after highlighting his experience as an entrepreneur during his campaign.
The entrepreneurial experience is part of what got him in trouble. Federal prosecutors said Correia stole money from investors in his smartphone app start-up SnoOwl.
Correia was also convicted of extorting marijuana vendors for the necessary approvals they needed for their businesses during his time in office.
The former mayor maintained his innocence during the criminal proceedings and even mounted a successful re-election campaign after he was recalled from office in 2019, as reported by WPRI.
In his appeal, Correia’s attorneys argued that there was insufficient evidence for several of the counts of conviction and the impact of “spillover prejudice” demanded a new trial.
The panel of judges call Correia’s argument that there was not enough evidence for his wire-fraud convictions, “all foam and no beer.”
The opinion states that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that Correia defrauded two investors out of $25,000 a piece by falsely telling them he had previously developed and sold an app, when he had not.
“We think that a rational jury could infer that a statement regarding a prospective app-developer’s past success in creating and selling a similar app would have a natural tendency to influence a prospective investor’s decision to invest in a new endeavor,” the panel wrote.
Correia also argued that he told investors that he would not use all of the investor money to develop SnoOwl and that he would not draw a salary from his work.
Those arguments didn’t have traction, according to the judges. The investors testified that Correia never told them he intended to pay for personal expenses with the funds.
A breakdown of the $358,190 Correia raised in investments for SnoOwl show he spent $18,600 on clothing, health care products, jewelry, personal grooming and personal trainers, $27,023 on hotel expenses, $25,121 on dining expenses, $31,780 on transportation related expenses and $37,282 on personal credit cards, student loans and a vehicle.
Arguing against his extortion convictions, Correia’s attorneys argued that his associate David Hebert acted alone and in his own self-interest when he demanded a marijuana vendor pay $25,000 to attend the mayor’s campaign fundraiser in order to get the necessary licenses to sell cannabis.
The judges argued that there was sufficient evidence that Correia was involved in the extortion since he confirmed the vendor had met with Herbert before their own meeting and that they were “good.”
Additionally, the judges called Correia’s argument that there was no quid pro quo because the vendor received his license before making the campaign donations, “smoke and mirrors.”
They cited a court decision that the timing of a payment may not provide a conclusive answer as to whether or not a payment is a bribe, but the timing of the agreement to make that payment may.
Hebert was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to forfeit more than $80,000 for his role in the extortion scheme.
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