MASSACHUSETTS EX-MAYOR GUILTY OF CORRUPTION

Massachusetts, May 15: Former Massachusetts mayor first elected at the age of 23 by touting himself as a successful entrepreneur was convicted Friday of stealing money from investors in his start-up to bankroll his lavish lifestyle and soliciting bribes from marijuana vendors who wanted to operate in the struggling mill city.

Jasiel Correia was found guilty of extortion, fraud and filing false tax returns after 23 hours of jury deliberations over four days in a trial that highlighted Correia's swift rise and fall in Fall River, where he had dazzled voters at a young age with his promises to turn the city around.

Correia, now 29, was also acquitted on three counts, including accusations that he forced his chief of staff to give him half of her salary in order to keep her city job.

Correia pleaded innocence and claimed that the charges were politically motivated. He also told reporters that his ''fight is not over” and predicted he would win on appeal.