Fall River ‘middlemen’ plead guilty
Two co-conspirators charged in pot license extortion scandal
Two co-conspirators in the Fall River marijuana license extortion scandal pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme prosecutors allege Mayor Jasiel Correia used to extract thousands from recreational weed dealers looking to open shop.
Antonio Costa, one of two named co-conspirators in the superseding indictment charging Correia earlier this month, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal extortion charges. Fifty miles south, Correia appeared on a Fall River mayoral primary ballot.
Acosta admitted to Judge Douglas Woodlock he had used marijuana recently but said he was clear-headed in Tuesday’s plea hearing.
“You’re clear-eyed and understand that?” Woodlock asked Acosta of his understanding of the hearing.
“Yes,” Acosta replied. Costa looked at his attorney Daniel Rabinovitz and shook his head as U.S. Attorney Zachary Hafer read aloud the charges against him. He faces four counts of extortion and one of making false statements.
Correia earlier this month pleaded not guilty to charges he requested bribes, sometimes totaling $250,000, from marijuana vendors in exchange for coveted non-opposition letters and host community agreements to operate in Fall River between 2016 and 2019.
Costa, or “Middleman #1” as named on Correia’s indictment, guided bribe payments from two separate marijuana vendors to Correia between 2016 and 2019. In 2016, he kept $30,000 from one vendor’s bribe payment to Correia, and in 2018, he received 1215 pounds of marijuana among bribe payments from a second vendor.
In a separate courtroom before Judge Rya Zobel, David Hebert pleaded guilty to his role in the alleged bribe scheme.
Hebert, a Fall River property manager and “Middleman #2” in Correia’s indictment, admitted to facilitating bribe payments from a marijuana vendor to Correia and his re-election campaign, as well as forgiving a $61,000 mortgage by the vendor’s brother.
Zobel asked Hebert if he knew what he was doing was illegal.
“I wasn’t thinking properly,” Hebert said quietly.
Hafer, who also prosecuted Hebert, asked that Hebert forfeit $61,000. Hebert’s plea agreement suggests a sentence of 30 to 37 months in prison, and Zobel scheduled a sentencing on Dec. 12.
Costa’s plea agreement asks him to forfeit at least $72,000, and asks for a sentence of 57 to 71 months in prison. Woodlock did not schedule a sentencing date.
The guilty pleas come one day after Correia’s former chief of staff, Genoveva Andrade, attended a preliminary hearing on extortion charges relating to her role in the scandal.