BOSTON — The trial of former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia II begins in earnest today at John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse.
U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock will be presiding over the proceedings in Courtroom 1.
More:How jury selection could affect the trial of former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia
Correia faces a total of 24 counts, including tax fraud in relation to his app company, SnoOwl, and extortion and bribery charges in relation to an alleged pay-to-play scheme he created with marijuana vendors looking to do business in Fall River. Four days were set aside last week for jury selection, though that still needs to be completed today. Opening statements began today as well.
Dr. David Cabeceiras takes the stand
The prosecution, specifically David Tobin today, is very precise in its questioning. Many documents and time-stamped emails have been presented, and almost each time, witnesses are asked to first testify if the documents are authentic.
Cabeceiras acknowledges he considered Correia to be “part of the family.”
More:Tracing Jasiel Correia’s fall: From entrepreneur, to mayor, to alleged corruption kingpin
He says Correia first told him about a company he says he started and sold. Correia was trying to get Cabeceiras to invest in a new company, SnoOwl. Cabeceiras agreed to invest $50,000 in what he describes as “some sort of lifestyle company.”
The investment agreement states that Cabeceiras would get a 5% equity stake in the company.
Cabeceiras, like the others before him, says he was not aware of Correia taking a salary, nor was he aware that Correia was spending investor money on expensive luxury items, like $300 cologne, $700 shoes for his then-girlfriend, a Mercedes Benz and a trip to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday in Washington, D.C. — a trip during which he spent $3,000.
He testified that he handed Correia 19 checks in all to invest in SnoOwl, totaling $145,000. Cabeceiras said that each time, Correia told him that the app needed more money to be completed, and that Cabeceiras believed his investments were building equity in the company.
Tobin asked Cabeceiras that if he knew his money would be spent on those items like the cologne, shoes, Mercedes and trip, would he still have given Correia $145,000?
“No,” Cabeceiras said.
His testimony ended the day; he will take the stand again Tuesday morning.
Alex Vlahos testimony
Alex Vlahos, who was listed as an owner of SnoOwl from the start, says he never took a salary and never had access to company money or accounts. Vlahos, like Mello, said he never used SnoOwl cash for personal expenses, and Correia never told him that he would. He said the app never generated any revenue.
Vlahos was a principal in 1ZERO4 Business Academy, for which a ribbon-cutting video was shown to the jurors.
Under questioning by defense attorney Kevin Reddington, Vlahos testified also to Correia’s political ambitions.
“He loved Fall River,” Vlahos said.
Christopher Mello testifies
After a break, Christopher Mello is the next witness. He is a software engineer who worked on the SnoOwl app with Correia and was tasked with writing the initial code for the app.
Mello initially became involved after talking to Correia when the future-mayor was working as a shoe salesman at Nordstrom at Providence Place.
Did he ever take a salary? No. Did he know Correia had used $10,000 of investor money to pay for a Mercedes? No.
He says the goal was to get purchased by a larger company.
Mello says he was never compensated for the work he did.
Christopher Parayno is called
Correia’s former chief of staff Christopher Parayno, a classmate at Bishop Connolly High School, is testifying.
Prior to the position in Correia’s office, Parayno was employed as youth systems coordinator for the Bristol Workforce Investment Board. He also served as associate director of 1ZERO4 Business Academy until December and vice president of marketing for the app developer SnoOwl, both companies founded by Correia.
He started the job in January 2016, and was asked to resign in May. He says on the stand, the resignation was because of policy disagreements, and “rumors” of a romantic relationship with someone who worked at City Hall. Parayno says that while no relationship existed at the time, he is involved now with the person in question.
In 2018, Parayno landed a new job in the administration as the head of cemeteries and trees, a position he currently still holds.
Parayno is being asked about financial documents related to SnoOwl. At one point, he reads an email from Correia about non-disclosure and collaboration agreements related to starting the company that says the documents just “protect against temptation.”
When asked by prosecutor David Tobin what the investments in SnoOwl were for, he replies that the money was needed to pay app developers. He says he and Correia decided they would hold off on taking salaries until they had enough investment money to support it, or if the app was monetized and could afford it. He says he never took a salary.
Parayno testifies about trips, dinners and Twin River casino visits he participated in with Correia, noting they had nothing to do with SnoOwl or business, but says Correia paid for them — even a trip to Miami to celebrate a friend’s birthday. When asked how he thought Correia, who was making $16,000 as a City Councilor, could afford these things, Parayno says, “Either through his salary or the funds he made selling [Find It].”
Mendes already testified FindIt made only a couple thousand dollars from ad sales, and was never sold to anyone (despite Correia’s claims that it was).
Reddington asks, “Would you agree Mr. Correia is not a wiz with finances?” and Parayno says, “I knew he was never good at math.”
First witness is Alec Mendes
Alec Mendes, who went to Providence College with Correia, started a company with Corriea in 2010 after their freshman year in college. They created a web-based business called Find It. Correia did the sales, Mendes wrote the code and handled the back end of the business.
Back in 2010, Mendes and Correia held a press conference at the then-Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce to unveilwww.finditfr.com, the site they created during summer break — what they envisioned would become a high-traffic, one-stop shop for businesses to promote themselves to eager consumers who live and work in Fall River.
“It’s different from a search engine and it’s different from a social network, but it combines the two in one,” said Correia at the time.
Mendes is being asked several questions about the tax forms related to their business. He acknowledged they had business credit cards, bank accounts and even had office space at one point. When asked if they “swiped the card” for dinners and other business expenses, Mendes replied, “Yes, if they were business expenses.”
Of note: Correia and Mendes even took former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci out to dinner to the Capital Grille to promote FindIt, and Cianci made them pay.
Mendes says neither took a salary, both because they didn’t make very much but also because it was just something they did on the side. When questioned, he did acknowledge he understood the difference between what constitutes a business expense and what does not.
Reminder that witnesses should not be watching the trial
Woodlock began, after the break, by reminding the attorneys that witnesses are not allowed to be watching the trial remotely, just as they would not be allowed to be physically present in the courtroom. Fall River financial services director Mary Sahady, a member of the Correia administration, was apparently logged in this morning. Reddington said his private investigator is reminding all of the witnesses not to watch the trial remotely.
Opening statements are done
With opening statements over, the judge decided to break for lunch. The judge indicated the trial today will go until about 4:15 p.m.
Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Zachary R. Hafer indicated they will proceed chronologically, so likely that means the SnoOwl part first, then the cannabis bribery allegations.
‘Not good with figures and math and stuff’
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington began his opening statement in the Correia trial by noting Correia’s love of Fall River, and his long-held political ambitions. He described Correia as a smart, ambitious young man in college, dropping as an aside, “not good with figures and math and stuff,” but with grand ideas.
Reddington also noted the history of the SnoOwl app, and how the name was inspired by the owl from the “Harry Potter” films.
He denies that Correia orchestrated any fraud either with the SnoOwl app or as mayor, noting that the scope of the crimes would be obvious and that such actions would be clearly illegal. “Why would somebody lie? Think about it,” Reddington said.
Reddington tells the jury people like Antonio Costa and Hildegar Camara, who allegedly took bribe money on Correia’s behalf, were trying to act like big shots with the mayor’s ear. Their plea deals, he said, are contingent on “dancing the dance” with the government.
Reddington it seems will paint the government’s cooperating witnesses as folks out to save their own skin and tell the story the feds want to avoid long prison term. “The government ran out of paper giving out their immunity agreements and plea agreements here.”
Notably, Reddington calls Correia “Jahz-eel” a couple of times, but corrects himself and later notes that it’s “Jay-zel,” rhymes with basil. He also pronounces Hildegar Camara’s last name like “camera.”
Preparing the jury for information overload
Hafer ended his opening statements by getting the members of the jury ready for the massive amount of information they’ll be expected to hear about. Discovery in the case involved more than 78,000 pages of documents — one of several reasons why the trial was delayed. Hafer said they would be shown many bank statements, financial records, IRS documents and other potentially confusing paperwork, and that jurors would be provided with summaries of what those documents mean.
There are 14 jurors, two to four fewer than one might expect in this kind of a case. Eleven of the 14 are women.
The marijuana extortions
Hafer is showing an organized crime-style chart to the jury with Correia at the top, and several co-conspirators who had taken plea deals.
Hafer mentions David Brayton, a Fall River native who was trying to open a marijuana business. Through Tony Costa — described by Hafer as a real estate investor, illegal pot dealer and SnoOwl investor — helped Correia extort $250,000 from Brayton for a letter of non-opposition.
More:‘Legalized extortion’: How Jasiel Correia’s case shows corruption opportunity in MA pot industry
These letters were the “key to opening a marijuana business and it could only come from the defendant … these letters came with a high price.” Correia told vendors he was only going to give out five or six letters, jacking up the price.
Instead of helping a new industry bring jobs to Fall River, Hafer says, Correia was shaking them down.
He allegedly extorted money from businessman Matt Pichette in exchange for a letter of non-opposition, one of two mayor-approved documents Fall River marijuana businesses seek before applying for state licenses. Pichette is the principal of Loop Cultivation and Premium Chief Edibles. Some of the alleged bribery money was paid by the Pichette family in the form of campaign donations to Correia.
Hafer referred to Charles Saliby, who allegedly paid for a letter of non-opposition to open recreational dispensary Greener Leaf on Rhode Island Avenue. Hafer said Saliby handed Correia an enclosed contractor’s clipboard containing an envelope with $75,000 in cash, and that Correia handed the clipboard back containing a letter of non-opposition. “Money for official action. Quid. Pro. Quo.”
Lots of brand names mentioned
Kate Spade, Burberry, Rolex Batman watch, Intercontinental Hotel stays, dinners at Ocean Prime, a Mercedes — Correia is being portrayed as a person living the high life, on the backs of investors.
Reddington presents a very different Jasiel Correia, a hard-working young Fall River kid who was just working at Nordstrom, living “above a coffee shop.” No one thought he was a millionaire, Reddington
‘Lying, cheating, stealing and shakedowns’
U.S. Attorney Zachary Hafer lays out the story Fall River residents know all too well by this point. He says Correia took SnoOwl investors’ money and “ran” and convinced voters he was a successful businessman.
“There was a price to do business in Fall River,” Hafer says, explaining that marijuana businesses were forced to pay up to $250,000 to locate in Fall River.
The first witness will be Dr. David Cabeceiras, whom Hafer says invested in the app company of Correia, whom he considered a surrogate son. Just after receiving the money, Correia made a down payment on a Mercedes.
Instead of depositing the investment checks, Correia cashed them, paying for things like Tiffany jewelry for his then-girlfriend.
What happened to the $400,000 invested in SnoOwl? Some, Hafer says, was used to pay developers. But between 2013 and 2015, Hafer says, Correia bought “nice things” – fancy clothes, hotels ($27,000), paying down student loans, a helicopter tour of the Newport mansions, and even a personal trainer. He also made charitable donations, like a $3,000 donation to the now-defunct Children’s Aquarium of Fall River. He used the SnoOwl debit card like it was his own personal card, Hafer says.
Hafer said that Correia even had direct-debit set up to automatically pay for things like his student loans, vehicle payments, and dating services.
He described Correia as brushing off complaints by the developers and investors, promising that a buyer for the app was always right around the corner, but meanwhile neglected the app development — Hafer said Correia stopped paying the developers, the company that hosted the software, and even did not pay nominal legal fees to protect SnoOwl’s intellectual property, particularly after he ran for and became mayor.
What is the evidence? Hafer says Cabeceiras hired a “startup expert” to help with SnoOwl, and that person, who will be called to testify, sent Correia an email that said if he used the company debit card for personal expenses, that was at best a bad mistake, or at worst, criminal.
The courtroom looks a little different than normal due to COVID
According to Tweets from the pool reporter, Chris Vilani from Law360, there is plexiglass between the counsel tables and a panel in front of the deputy and the witness stand. Woodlock is presiding and he has a three-sided plexiglass panel in front of him and additional panels on either side of the bench.
The jury would normally be in a jury box. But now there are five jurors in a jury box meant for 18, according to Villani. The other nine are spaced out in the floor where the attorney tables would be. The attorneys and Correia are seated in what would normally be the gallery first row.
There is Lysol and hand sanitizer on the witness stand. Each witness gets their own mic cover and has to take it with them and wipe down the area after they are done testifying.
A new addition to the federal courthouse is an “attorney mask break area” which consists of a roped off space with a capacity of four.
Another procedural change: Attorneys will be making all arguments and examining witnesses from their tables. The jurors on the floor will swivel their chairs around during opening statements.
The attorneys are making opening statements with masks on, as will be the case for everyone throughout the trial. Woodlock, the attorneys, the jurors will all be masked. Only the witnesses will take their masks off when they are inside the penalty box-like witness stand. In fact, after the break, Woodlock reminded Reddington, whose mask kept slipping during opening statements, to keep his mask in place. As well, he was reminded to stay “tethered” to the microphone so that those watching remotely can hear properly.
Witnesses are sequestered
Woodlock explained that witnesses are sequestered, meaning they cannot watch the proceedings, and they are not meant to speak to each other or coach each other on what has been said, or what to say going forward. The idea is that they only know what they know, and therefore can only speak to what they know.
COVID limits people in courtroom
With jurors, attorneys and everyone associated with the case, there is room for only one extra person in the courtroom. Woodlock has decided to allow one “pool” media member in the courtroom per day, meaning they will report out for not only their media outlet, but for all other media outlets. There are, of course, overflow rooms available at the courthouse where other members of the press, etc. will be stationed.
In the courtroom today are 14 jurors, the judge, two court staff , three prosecutors, Correia, his mother, his fiancée, Reddington, witness and one media member.
Having spectators is “very important,” according to Woodlock, but just as he would remove someone from court for poor behavior, he will do the same for “virtual” spectators by removing their Zoom access.
Who is watching today?
This week, there appears to be far greater interest in the trial. Because of the pandemic, folks can watch remotely. Where last week there was anywhere from 30 to 60 viewers at any given time (during the silenced voir dire, viewership dropped off even more than that), this morning, as of 10 a.m., there are 193 viewers on the Zoom call. They include: City Councilors Cliff Ponte and Michelle Dionne, former firefighters union head and potential mayoral candidate Jason Burns, director of financial services Mary Sahady, local open meetings activist Patrick Higgins, former mayoral candidate Jordan Silvia, and former Roger Williams University Law School Dean Michael Yalnosky.
What we learned last week
Due to the pandemic safeguards, the public was not able to watch jury selection. Voir dire, or the process by which attorneys and the judge ask questions of potential jurors, can often “” reveal, before you hear the formal openings, what the strategies of the prosecution and defense are going to be,” said former Roger Williams University Law School Dean Michael Yelnosky.
Who are the witnesses?
As of mid-day on Friday, five witnesses were scheduled to take the stand today.
Woodlock previously ordered the identity of the witnesses under seal, so likely court watchers won’t know from one day to the next who will be scheduled to testify.
Woodlock indicated that Correia’s father, also named Jasiel Correia, and grandmother will not be present in the courtroom, as they are on a list of potential jurors. His mother and fiancee, however, will be allowed in the courtroom. The judge is limiting the number of people in the courtroom to 26, due to COVID safety protocols.
There is speculation locally that Correia will take the stand in his own defense, however, Woodlock made it clear to potential jurors he had no legal obligation to do so.
More:Zoom access, 35 witnesses: What to expect from Jasiel Correia’s federal corruption trial
How to watch from home
You can register with the federal court for remote access. First access the United States District Court website at https://www.mad.uscourts.gov/. Then to register to attend a particular remote hearing by going to https://forms.mad.uscourts.gov/courtlist.html.
Pick the date of the hearing from the drop-down box and choose Woodlock as the judge in a separate drop-down box. You can register up to two days before each court date.
What each day’s schedule will look like
Woodlock has also determined to keep a solid daily schedule, with morning proceedings from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. After a 45-minute lunch break, it’s back to the trial at 1:15 p.m. and ending the daily proceedings at 4:15 p.m.
He did warn jurors that the trial could take three to four weeks, with long days of sitting and listening