Corrupt mayor faces jail for extorting cannabis license applicants

Former Fall River, Massachusetts mayor could be behind bars for more than a decade for knocking down applicants for cannabis licenses. Jasiel Correia was found guilty in May of stealing investors in relation to an app he developed, but also of extorting money from cannabis applicants. He was convicted on 21 of the 24 counts he faced.

On Friday, the government proposed that Correia be sentenced to 11 years in prison, then 24 months supervised release, and $ 298,190 in return for certain SnoOwl investors. In addition, they are demanding that he pay $ 20,473 in reimbursement to the IRS, forfeit $ 566,740, and a final mandatory special valuation of $ 2,100.

The government file published on Law360 found that Correia remained defiant despite 33 witnesses testifying against him who said the truth was about to come out. Correia even suggested that he turned down a plea deal because he was innocent, but the government said no such deal had been offered.

Photo by Darren415 / Getty Images

Marijuana vendor

The ruling found that several immunized marijuana sellers testified in court that “they felt compelled to pay Correia bribes in order to obtain a license to operate in Fall River. While the marijuana sellers are not victims of the Victims of Crime Rights Act because of their involvement in the extortion conspiracies, it is nonetheless worth noting that everyone suffered the adverse side effects, including lost business opportunities, obtaining legal aid and immunity, and public testimony must, subject to effective cross-examination. “

The file highlighted Matthew Pichette, who gave an emotional testimony of the humiliation his family suffered when he agreed to pay the bribe (designed as a campaign).
Posts) went public, including the formal affair with his wife which was initiated by the Office of Campaign Finance and which eventually resulted in a fine of $ 5,000. The file also states that “Charles Saliby, like Pichette, testified that despite all the money he had invested, he could never open his business”[b]because the Cannabis Control Commission considered me unsuitable because of my involvement in Jasiel Correia. “

Impact fees

The mayor was able to blackmail the applicants through a “community activity fee” from Massachusetts. The state allowed municipalities to charge cannabis companies 3% to cover the higher costs associated with the new businesses. While some states used the money for things like traffic improvements, Correia took the money for itself. Correia managed to get $ 600,000 in illegal cash payments from four cannabis applicants seeking his approval.

Former mayor’s chief of staff Genoveva Andrade pleaded guilty in December of knocking down the applicants. Andrade admitted helping Correia receive $ 150,000 in exchange for a critical approval letter from the city that would have made an adult pharmacy possible. Andrade also paid Correia nearly $ 23,000 in bribes to become Chief of Staff. Andrades plea deal was rejected by a judge in June.

This article originally appeared in the Green Market Report and was republished with permission.