Ex-mayor convicted of corruption

The former mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts, who was elected at 23 after pitching himself as an ambitious entrepreneur and product of the city, was convicted by a federal jury Friday of defrauding investors of more than $200,000 and extorting marijuana vendors.

The former mayor, Jasiel Correia II, 29, used investor money from his tech startup to pay for lavish goods, trips and clothing, according to an indictment. After becoming mayor of Fall River, which is about 50 miles south of Boston, in 2016, Correia used his position to gain bribes from marijuana vendors looking to establish their businesses in the city.

When he was in college, Correia founded an app called SnoOwl, which was designed to help local businesses connect with a network of customers. Seven people invested about $360,000 in the app, of which Correia spent about $230,000 on designer clothing, jewelry, travel, “adult entertainment” and a Mercedes, according to the indictment.

Correia also used about $10,000 of investor money to pay down his student debt and to fund his political campaign.

To conceal the theft, Correia denied investors access to financial records, lied to them with false updates and also lied to his then-girlfriend, on whom he spent thousands of dollars, telling her that he made his money from the sale of a different app, according to the indictment.

After Correia became Fall River’s mayor, he took bribes from marijuana vendors in exchange for nonopposition letters, which are required in Massachusetts to obtain a license to operate a marijuana business in the state.

Bribes from four vendors ranged from more than $75,000 to $250,000 in cash, campaign contributions and other payments, according to court documents.

Correia was convicted on charges of wire fraud, falsifying tax returns and related counts of extortion. Correia, who is set to be sentenced in September, could face up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud charges and up to 20 years for the extortion charges.