Jasiel Correia loses another bid for early release from federal prison
by: Tim White
BOSTON (WPRI) – Convicted former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia has lost another bid to get out of federal prison early following his conviction three years ago in a public corruption and fraud case.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs found Correia, 32, failed to show “extraordinary and compelling reasons” why the court should consider a sentence reduction.
“None of the justifications for a sentence reduction put forth by Correia standing alone or taken together are sufficiently extraordinary or compelling to warrant a sentence reduction,” Burroughs wrote in her decision on Wednesday. “Thus, the court finds that Correia has failed to meet his burden.”
Burroughs noted that the judge who presided over Correia’s criminal trial, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock, had sentenced him to six years in prison, which was already a “significant departure from the advisory guideline sentencing range.: Correia was facing between 13 and 15 years based on calculations by the U.S. Probation Office at the time.
“Releasing Correia early, given his reasons stated in support and his already significantly below guideline sentence, would be inconsistent with the purposes of sentencing, including punishment and deterrence,” Burroughs wrote. “His crime was serious and warrants the arguably already generous sentence imposed.”
In May, Correia sought a reduction in his sentence, arguing ineffective counsel by his trial attorney Kevin Reddington.
Correia claimed Reddington “made several false statements to defendant concerning defendant’s desire to make all of the SnoOwl investors whole prior to trial.”
SnoOwl was a tech app that prosecutors said Correia used as a personal piggy bank by spending investor money for personal gain.
Correia also argued Reddington “attempted to extort $50,000 from defendant and his family plus 20% of SnoOwl with threats of 30 years in Leavenworth [prison] and other threats.”
Reached by phone Thursday, Reddington said Burroughs’ new ruling was “a very fair decision based on facts and not exaggerated speculation.”
Correia was convicted of 11 counts of fraud, extortion and conspiracy following his trial in 2021, when a jury found that he defrauded investors in SnoOwl and shook down marijuana vendors for bribes while he was mayor.
The jury initially convicted Correia of 21 total counts, but the trial judge later tossed out 10 counts based on technicalities in the law, a decision the judge said did not affect the length of the former mayor’s sentence.
Correia is currently serving time at a federal prison in Ashland, Kentucky, and is scheduled to be released in July 2026.
Correia has failed in multiple attempts to overturn his conviction, first before Judge Woodlock, and again with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected Correia’s bid for a new trial. The 82-page decision was written by U.S. Circuit Judge Bruce Selya, a Rhode Island native.
Tim White (twhite@wpri.com) is Target 12 managing editor and chief investigative reporter and host of Newsmakers for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.