Convicted ex-mayor Jasiel Correia wants out of prison: Defense lawyer tried to extort me

BOSTON — Imprisoned former Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia II filed a motion Thursday with a Boston federal judge seeking to reduce his prison sentence, claiming that his defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, attempted to extort money from him and take a 20% portion of ownership of Correia's now-defunct app company SnoOwl.

“He’s a liar,” said an impassioned Reddington, a highly revered defense attorney in the region. “And by the way, 20% of nothing is nothing.”

Reddington said he only learned of Correia’s accusations against him on Thursday morning, after the request for early release was filed at federal court.

Correia authored the 26-page court filing. He is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution Ashland in eastern Kentucky, a low-security prison with a minimum-security satellite camp that houses 1,313 male inmates.

Correia appealed his conviction on charges of defrauding investors in the smartphone app he invented, and corruption as mayor, extorting money from business owners looking to open marijuana shops in Fall River. He used hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund what prosecutors characterized as a "lavish lifestyle." He lost that appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in November 2022.

According to the Bureau of Prisons, Correia is currently scheduled for release in Aug. 30, 2026.

Included in Correia's motion are affidavits submitted in support of his claims against Reddington from his wife, Jenny Fernandes Correia, his parents, Jasiel Correia and Maria Correia, and his sister, Alexandra Correia, supporting his allegations.

Tracing Jasiel Correia's fall: From entrepreneur & mayor, to convicted corruption kingpin

‘Extraordinary and compelling circumstances,’ claims Correia

In Correia’s court filing, requesting a reduction of his sentence, the former mayor mapped out five grievances.

“The extraordinary and compelling circumstances are these facts that were unknown to the court at trial and sentencing,” wrote Correia.

He says Reddington agreed with federal prosecutors to consolidate two issues that a federal grand jury indicted him on separately: the fraud against investors in the SnoOwl app and his shakedown of business owners in exchange for necessary city approval to apply for state cannabis licenses.

Correia said he never agreed to try the cases together, and it was not done in his best interest.

Not true, said Reddington.

“Before the trial, I sat for hours with him and [private investigator] Bob Jones. We discussed whether or not it would make sense to try the cases separately or together. And I used the expression, 'you give them one bite of the apple, not two.' You don’t want to try SnoOwl and knock the crap out of that case then have them come at you with the extortion case,” said Reddington. “He knows it and his family knows it.”

The issue was discussed at Correia's trial with federal Judge Douglas P. Woodlock; at the time, Correia never objected to combining the cases.

Paying it back: Correia seeks to repay $300K to 'lenders' in SnoOwl case

Withdrawing request: Correia withdraws request to pay back SnoOwl investors; but gov't says he rejected a deal

Correia claims Reddington lied and failed to pay back investors 'as directed'

In one head-scratcher, Correia makes a new claim that Reddington failed to repay $306,000 to SnoOwl investors, some of whom were parents of his childhood friends.

“Defendant’s trial counsel made several false statements to Defendant concerning Defendant’s desire to make all the SnoOwl investors whole prior to trial, resulting in the $306,000 paid into trial counsel’s escrow account for that sole purpose not being paid to the investors as directed by Defendant, prejudicing your Defendant,” wrote Correia in his motion.

That’s not what Correia claimed to The Herald News in February 2019, after the SnoOwl indictment was handed up, and it's not what prosecutors' court filings bear out.

Correia, then the mayor, told a reporter he'd attempted since December 2018 to repay seven people accusing him of fraud, but that prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office hadn’t cooperated by passing along his offer.

“The U.S. attorney clearly did not want to take the offer to the lenders. That’s why we filed the motion to make the offer to the lenders,” said Correia at the time.

Another app? Jasiel Correia II's SnoOwl app led to him going to prison. Now his wife has started one.

Reddington indicated he knew prosecutors would not make the deal, but approached the federal government anyway. He returned the money to Correia after the deal was rejected.

At the time, Correia declined to say how he raised the $306,000. Correia and his girlfriend at the time had spent much of the SnoOwl investors' money by then, squandering it on extravagant trips, meals, luxury clothing, adult entertainment, leasing a Mercedes and repaying student loans.

The affidavit written by Correia's wife, Jenny, offers a peek into how Correia raised money for his defense. She indicates that the money came from friends and family, derived from home equity loans and personal savings.

Correia accuses Reddington of attempted extortion

Correia further accuses Reddington of trying to extort $11,000 from his family and another $50,000 in attorney fees right before his four-week trial; Correia claims Reddington indicated that if not paid, Correia would not get an appropriate defense.

“I busted my ass on this case. It was the first case of the pandemic, and I spent a month in that courtroom,” said Reddington.

Correia had paid $100,000 of the $150,000 retainer that Reddington acknowledged he tried to collect.

“He came up to me with a wrinkly little check for $4,000 and said, ‘I’m sorry but I don’t have the money, at least I can give you this,'” said Reddington. “I didn’t say a word. I did make a joke about it, and said, 'At least this will cover my hotel bills and parking fees for this month-long trial.'”

Whether Correia owes an outstanding legal bill to Reddington or not, Correia was ordered to pay restitution to the SnoOwl investors he defrauded.

There is no evidence in court records that they have recovered any of their money.

Correia’s early release request also blames the federal government

Correia says the U.S. Attorney's Office “attempted to hide its plan from the court that I would be the only one imprisoned out of many defendants and targets,” according to his bid for early release.

Indeed, none of Correia's co-defendants in the scheme to extort marijuana vendors — David Hebert, Tony Costa, Hildegard Camara or Gen Andrade — saw the inside of a prison.

Hebert, Costa and Camara testified for the federal government against Correia without immunity. They received house arrest, fines, and restitution, sentenced by Woodlock.

Andrade did not testify against Correia. Woodlock refused her plea of guilty for making a false statements to federal investigators, and sentenced her to a year probation and a $50,000 fine.

‘Bring it, Jasiel, I'm challenging you’

All four of Correia's co-defendants have served their sentences and paid court fines and restitution, according to court records.

Reddington said he’s raring to meet Correia in court to address the allegations, and hopes he’ll get a hearing on the matter in Boston federal court.

“Bring it, Jasiel, I’m challenging you," said Reddington. "Let's go."

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Convicted fraudster ex-mayor Jasiel Correia seeks early prison release