The trial continues for Jasiel F. Correia, 29, a Democrat, who is accused of extorting $600,000 from marijuana vendors while he was mayor from 2016 to 2019.
BOSTON The corruption and fraud trial against Jasiel Correia II continued Tuesday, with a focus on allegations that the former Fall River mayor extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from marjiuana companies. The day was capped by stunning testimony from Hildegar Camara, one of four alleged co-conspirators.
Camara, who said he considered Correia to be like a son, has pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion, two counts of extortion conspiracy, and two counts of making false statements to federal prosecutors twice, on June 17 and 24, in relation to helping Correia solicit bribes from marijuana companies seeking local approval to set up shop in Fall River.
At federal corruption trial, marijuana vendor details alleged bribe to former Fall River mayor
By Shelley Murphy Globe Staff,Updated May 3, 2021, 7:44 p.m.
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Former Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia leaves Moakley Courthouse.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
In the summer of 2016, the owner of a marijuana company was golfing with two friends of Jasiel F. Correia II when he complained that he had struggled
to open a dispensary in Fall River. What did he need to do to win approval? he asked.
As testimony in Correiaâs public corruption trial entered its second week, David Brayton told jurors he received his answer days later when one of the friends, Antonio Costa, told him that Correia, then Fall Riverâs mayor, wanted a $250,000 bribe in exchange for a non-opposition letter, a document required for state approval.
BOSTON On day six of testimony in the federal criminal case against former Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia II, there were tales of a pay-to-play atmosphere in the city’s burgeoning legalized marijuana business. I heard it was expensive to get into Fall River, said David Brayton, a former principal in the first marijuana company that Correia allegedly extorted.
Brayton testified that he paid $100,000 of an agreed-upon $250,000 bribe to obtain a letter of non-opposition from Correia in July 2016 to open his marijuana business, Xiphias Wellness. He is listed in the 24-count superseding indictment as “Marijuana vendor #1.”
Brayton, a Little Compton native, testified he was the money man for Xiphias Wellness and that “it became a struggle” trying to get a meeting with the Correia administration to obtain a letter of non-opposition. The letter is just one step of the process through which a business is licensed to sell marijuana in Massachusetts.
BOSTON Within a short time of receiving several hundred thousand dollars from investors for his start-up app company SnoOwl, Jasiel Correia II spent more than half the money on travel, entertainment, luxury items and paying off personal debt.
Correia then attempted to hide those personal expenditures as business expenditures on his tax returns. He also hid from the IRS the fact that SnoOwl, a partnership, even existed, according to testimony Friday.
That was the gist of the government’s case on Friday against the former Fall River mayor, with the majority of the day’s testimony from IRS criminal investigator Sandi Lemanski, of the agency’s public corruption unit. Lemanski testified that over the course of three years, investors gave Correia a total of $358,190, but he wasted little time spending the money on personal use.