Facing self-surrender on Monday, ex-mayor Jasiel Correia again requests stay from prison

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BOSTON — Former Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia II, scheduled to turn himself in to a New Hampshire federal prison on Monday, took another stab Wednesday at asking federal Judge Douglas Woodlock to keep him free pending the appeal of his government corruption conviction.

And on Thursday, federal prosecutors for a third time filed their own motion in opposition to the request.

It’s the second time Correia, who is facing six years in prison, has made the request to be free pending his appeal. That ask was made back in October and remains unanswered by the federal judge who has extended his time out of prison three times since his original date to turn himself in on Dec. 3.

“Instead of requesting periodic continuances, Mr. Correia suggests that it would be most efficient simply to stay his surrender pending final resolution of whether he will be permitted to remain on release pending appeal,” wrote Correia’s appeals attorneys William Fick and Daniel Marx in a motion filed on Wednesday.

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Former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia II,  exits John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse with his wife Jen Fernandes on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021.
Former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia II, exits John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse with his wife Jen Fernandes on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021.

The defense attorneys in their court filing referenced a case involving a defendant in the so-called “Varsity Blues” scandal who was granted a stay pending his appeal from prosecution, also on Wednesday.

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The same day Las Vegas casino executive Gamal Abdelaziz was granted the stay, U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton sentenced him to one year and a day in prison for paying a $300,000 bribe for his daughter’s acceptance to the University of Southern California on a bogus basketball scholarship.

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In that case, however, the government "jointly moved with the defendants to stay the defendants’ surrender dates pending the First Circuit’s resolution of motions for bail pending appeal." This is not true for Correia's case.

Correia’s lawyers have successfully argued that due to the COVID pandemic it would be risky for him to report to the medium security prison, Federal Correctional Institution Berlin.

According to the federal medium security facility’s website, FCI Berlin is still at the highest rating, Level 3, for COVID-related isolation among inmates.

As of Thursday morning, Woodlock had not responded to Correia’s latest motion.

Somerset attorney and legal analyst Steven Sabra said he can understand why the defense attorneys have filed this 11th-hour motion, as Correia looks at turning himself in to prison on Monday, which is Valentine's Day.

“It’s not fair to any defendant to keep him dangling,” said Sabra.

On May 14, Correia was convicted of 21 counts of wire fraud, tax fraud, extortion and extortion conspiracy. A jury found that he intentionally misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in investors' money in a smartphone app he developed called SnoOwl, spending it on everything from luxury clothing and cars to student loan payments to adult entertainment.

Elected as the city’s youngest mayor at age 23, Correia, now 30, also was found guilty of lying on his income taxes, and extorting potential marijuana vendors.

During sentencing, Woodlock threw out 10 of the wire fraud and tax fraud convictions on grounds that prosecutors provided insufficient evidence for a conviction.

Correia’s former chief of staff, Gen Andrade, is set to go to trial in March. She originally pleaded guilty to charges for her part in the shakedown of one marijuana vendor, but Woodlock rejected the deal that would have given her no prison time.

Her trial never got off the ground in December when, during jury selection, it came to light that a witness for the prosecution had come down with COVID.

This story will be updated as more information is available.

Jo C. Goode may be reached at jgoode@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism and subscribe to The Herald News today!

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Ex-Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia asks to stay free during appeal