A 26-year-old Massachusetts mayor once regarded as an up-and-coming Democratic star gave a PowerPoint presentation to defend himself at a news conference Tuesday in the face of federal fraud charges brought against him.
Jasiel Correia was elected mayor of Fall City, Massachusetts, in 2015 and was charged Thursday with nine counts of wire fraud and four counts of filing false taxes, reported MassLive. He said he would not resign Tuesday after pleading not guilty to the charges, reported MassLive.
“This is America, and I am presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” Correia said Tuesday according to the Associated Press. “I will not allow political enemies to remove me from office for their own selfish agendas.”
Correia is accused of wrongly using $230,000 of money invested in his app, SnoOwl. Prosecutors say Correia spent the money on “personal items like airfare, luxury hotel stays, adult entertainment, dating services, designer clothes and a Mercedes,” reported MassLive.
“The app SnoOwl was on the app store and that it was real and that the U.S. attorney, in his statement, that this was not a consumer product available to consumers, was false,” Correia said Tuesday according to MassLive. “In no way did I scheme, did I plan, did I plot, to take investors’ money without the intention and deliverable of an app on the app store.
He did not answer reporters’ questions at the news conference, noted the AP. Correia procured more than $360,000 total from investors for SnoOwl. (RELATED: Nevada Legislature Candidate And Pimp Dennis Hof Dead At 72)
Correia is Fall River’s youngest mayor and was elected to its city council in 2013, reported the AP.
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