The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals today denied a motion by former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia to stay his sentence pending an appeal of his convictions of fraud and extortion. He is scheduled to begin serving his six-year sentence on Friday.
Judges Sandra Lynch, Jeffrey Howard and William Keyatta issued the ruling early this afternoon. The judges upheld Correia’s self-reporting date of April 22 to a federal prison in Berlin, New Hampshire.
U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock had provided temporary stays of sentencing since December, citing Correia’s family commitments and concerns over COVID infections at the New Hampshire prison. Woodlock denied the permanent stay earlier this month and ordered Correia to report by noon on Friday.
Local attorney Steven Sabra says the appellate judges had a specific metric by which to decide whether Correia was entitled to stay out of prison.
Many in the community will likely get some satisfaction in seeing the former mayor serve time for his convictions. In terms of the process of Correia finally reporting to prison, Sabra says it works.
Correia was convicted last May of 21 federal counts of fraud in relation to his SnoOwl app business and extortion and conspiracy in interactions with prospective marijuana retailers looking to open a business in Fall River.
Correia’s appeal before the First Circuit will likely be heard later this spring.
Comments are closed.