Dana and Dana Partner, Mark Dana added his comments on a story focusing on former Fall River Mayor, Jasiel Corriea. 
(NBC10) – Nearly five months ago, former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia walked out of federal court in Boston after a judge sentenced him to serve six years in prison.
But today he still walks free.
The 30-year-old was originally scheduled to report to prison in early December, but that date has been delayed five times due to the holidays, a COVID surge, a case against Genoveva Andrade, and most recently due to a pending appeal.
As of Wednesday, Correia will report to a federal prison in New Hampshire no later than noon on March 4.
NBC 10 Legal Analyst Mark Dana said these extensions won’t affect his sentence. He will still have to do the time unless he wins an appeal.
“These many continuances is not normal. It’s unusual to allow a defendant to kick the can so many times. Having said that, there’s really not a great prejudice to the government for doing this,” Dana explained. “It’s a viable appeal. Both sets of crimes are separate….whether you are talking about the app or his involvement as mayor. To intertwine those, I think just created an appellate issue with the government. The defense probably feels secure in their ability to win that.”
On Tuesday, Correia’s attorneys were granted more time to file their appeal. The date moved to March 30 and “no further extension of this deadline should be expected.”
Correia’s former chief of staff and campaign manager, Genoveva Andrade, recently negotiated a second plea deal that would avoid prison time if approved by the judge.
Federal documents show she would face a year of probation and a fine of $10,000 in exchange for a guilty plea to one count of making false statements to investigators.
A hearing for that plea will be held on March 7. The judge could still give her prison time.
