08-05-2009, 03:24 AM
To: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Re: Prosecutorial Misconduct
USA vs. Celerino Castillo, III
SA: 08-CR-00193 (1) � WRF
No. 08- 51144 USA vs. CASTILLO
Mr. Celerino �Cele� Castillo, III, a resident of McAllen, Texas, is best remembered today for being a whistleblower during the Iran-Contra investigation. Mr. Castillo submitted his testimony to the House Select Committee for Intelligence and went before a federal grand jury in Washington D.C, to testify to CIA involvement in murder, torture, drug trafficking, and arms smuggling. After his retirement from the DEA, Mr. Castillo became an educator and an activist for several civil rights organizations, such as People for Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace, and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
On March 06, 2008, Mr. Castillo was arrested by ATF agents in San Antonio, Texas. After eight months, Mr. Castillo�s charges were dismissed under Poke v. U.S.
Prior to Mr. Castillo's charges being dismissed, he was told that he was required to plead guilty to new charges of �Selling Guns without a License and Aiding and Abetting.� He did plead guilty and was sentenced to 37 months of federal incarceration. Mr. Castillo was initially ordered to surrender for his term of incarceration on March 05, 2009, but he discovered soon after his sentencing that his attorney, Robert �Eddie" de la Garza, had been under investigation by the state bar throughout his case - and Mr. de la Garza had failed to advise the court that he was in the process of being suspended. There was a massive issue of conflict of interest on the part of Mr. de la Garza also, because the same agents involved in Mr. Castillo's case were also involved with another case involving Mr. de la Garza�s son, Andrew de la Garza, who had been arrested by ATF a short time prior on quite similar charges to Mr. Castillo's.
The judge in Mr. Castillo�s case has extended Mr. Castillo's required surrender date until July 20, 2009, so that he may have ample time to prepare this case with his new public defender.
On April 10, 2009, Mr. Castillo and his new public defender filed nine counts of Prosecutorial Misconduct and Outrageous Government Conduct related to his case. The complaints were filed with the Office of the Inspector General and the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, and therefore are a matter of record.
We, the undersigned do strongly believe that the prosecutorial misconduct involved in Mr. Castillo's case was extremely egregious, as we do very strongly suspect that Mr. de la Garza's son's predicament was actually used by the ATF agents involved in both cases to blackmail Mr. de la Garza, Mr. Castillo's defense attorney, into giving Mr. Castillo the worst possible legal advice - in other words, pressuring Mr. Castillo's attorney to advise him in the strongest terms to plead guilty even though it was never in Mr. Castillo's best interest to do so.
We, the undersigned, respectfully demand that you enter into an immediate, thorough and urgent investigation into the manner in which Mr. Castillo's case was prosecuted. We also urgently request that you delay Mr. Castillo's prison reporting date until your investigation is concluded.
Text below is Spanish version of this document.
**************
En Espa�ol: El se�or Celerino "Cele" Castillo, III, residente de McAllen, Texas se conoce hoy dia por dar informacion fundamental durante el escandalo de Iran-Contra. El Sr. Castillol presento su testimonio delante del Comite Selecto de Inteligencia y aparecio delante de un jurado de acusacion en Washington, DC, para dar cuenta del involucramiento de la CIA en asesinatos, tortura, narcotrafico y el contrabando de armas. Despues de retirarse de la DEA, el Sr. Castillo se dedico a la educacion y el activismo en favor de organizaciones como People for Peace and Justice (Gente en favor de Paz y Justicia), Veterans for Peace (Veteranos por la Paz), y Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (Enforzadores de Leyes Contra la Prohibicion).
Agentes de la ATF (Buro de Alcohol, Tabaco, y Armas) arrestaron al Sr. Castillo el dia 6 de marzo de 2008 en San Antonio, Texas. Despues de ocho meses, la acusacion fue retirada bajo el caso "Poke vs. EEUU."
Antes de retirar los cargos, le dijeron al Sr. Castillo que debia declararse culpable a la nueva acusacion de "vender armas sin licencia y ser complice y ayudante en actividades ilegales." Se declaro culpable y lo sentenciaron a 37 meses en prision federal. Inicialmente le ordenaron que se presentara para su encarcelamiento el 5 de marzo de 2009, pero poco despues de su sentencia descubrio que su abogado, Robert "Eddie" de la Garza, estuvo bajo investigacion por el Colegio de Abogados durante el caso - y el Sr. de la Garza no le dijo a la corte que su licencia estaba en peligro de suspension. Tambien existia un asunto de conflicto de interes de parte del Sr. de la Garza, porque los mismos agentes que formaban parte del caso del Sr. Castillo tambien eran parte de la investigacion del hijo del Sr. de la Garza, Andrew de la Garza, al quien lo habian arrestado poco antes bajo acusacion de los mismos crimenes de los que estaba acusado el Sr. de la Garza.
Eljuez del caso del Sr. Castillo le extendio la fecha de reportar a la prision hasta el 20 de julio de 2009 para darle amplio tiempo para preparar su caso con su nuevo abogado.
El 10 de abril de 2009 el senor Castillo y su nuevo abogado presentaron 9 demandas de "falta de etica profesional" y "conducta intolerable del gobierno" en relacion con su caso. Las quejas se presentaron con la Oficina del Inspector General y la Division de Derechos Humanos en el Departamento de Justicia. Estas demandas son parte del Archivo Publico.
Los que firmamos este documento consideramos que la falta de etica en el caso del Sr. Castillo fue sumamente intolerable. Tambien tenemos la opinion que los agentes del Buro de Alcohol, Tabaco y Armas usaron el problema del hijo del abogado de la Garza para chantajear al abogado para que le diera al Sr. Castillo el peor consejo legal - hacer que el Sr. Castillo se declarara culpable aunque esa accion no fuera su mejor alternativa.
Los que firmamos abajo hacemos con respeto la peticion de que se abra una investigacion inmediata, profunda y urgente en la manera de que se condujo el proceso del caso del Sr. Castillo. Tambien pedimos que se demore la fecha de encarcelamiento del Sr. Castillo hasta la conclusion de sus investigaciones.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Re: Prosecutorial Misconduct
USA vs. Celerino Castillo, III
SA: 08-CR-00193 (1) � WRF
No. 08- 51144 USA vs. CASTILLO
Mr. Celerino �Cele� Castillo, III, a resident of McAllen, Texas, is best remembered today for being a whistleblower during the Iran-Contra investigation. Mr. Castillo submitted his testimony to the House Select Committee for Intelligence and went before a federal grand jury in Washington D.C, to testify to CIA involvement in murder, torture, drug trafficking, and arms smuggling. After his retirement from the DEA, Mr. Castillo became an educator and an activist for several civil rights organizations, such as People for Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace, and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
On March 06, 2008, Mr. Castillo was arrested by ATF agents in San Antonio, Texas. After eight months, Mr. Castillo�s charges were dismissed under Poke v. U.S.
Prior to Mr. Castillo's charges being dismissed, he was told that he was required to plead guilty to new charges of �Selling Guns without a License and Aiding and Abetting.� He did plead guilty and was sentenced to 37 months of federal incarceration. Mr. Castillo was initially ordered to surrender for his term of incarceration on March 05, 2009, but he discovered soon after his sentencing that his attorney, Robert �Eddie" de la Garza, had been under investigation by the state bar throughout his case - and Mr. de la Garza had failed to advise the court that he was in the process of being suspended. There was a massive issue of conflict of interest on the part of Mr. de la Garza also, because the same agents involved in Mr. Castillo's case were also involved with another case involving Mr. de la Garza�s son, Andrew de la Garza, who had been arrested by ATF a short time prior on quite similar charges to Mr. Castillo's.
The judge in Mr. Castillo�s case has extended Mr. Castillo's required surrender date until July 20, 2009, so that he may have ample time to prepare this case with his new public defender.
On April 10, 2009, Mr. Castillo and his new public defender filed nine counts of Prosecutorial Misconduct and Outrageous Government Conduct related to his case. The complaints were filed with the Office of the Inspector General and the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, and therefore are a matter of record.
We, the undersigned do strongly believe that the prosecutorial misconduct involved in Mr. Castillo's case was extremely egregious, as we do very strongly suspect that Mr. de la Garza's son's predicament was actually used by the ATF agents involved in both cases to blackmail Mr. de la Garza, Mr. Castillo's defense attorney, into giving Mr. Castillo the worst possible legal advice - in other words, pressuring Mr. Castillo's attorney to advise him in the strongest terms to plead guilty even though it was never in Mr. Castillo's best interest to do so.
We, the undersigned, respectfully demand that you enter into an immediate, thorough and urgent investigation into the manner in which Mr. Castillo's case was prosecuted. We also urgently request that you delay Mr. Castillo's prison reporting date until your investigation is concluded.
Text below is Spanish version of this document.
**************
En Espa�ol: El se�or Celerino "Cele" Castillo, III, residente de McAllen, Texas se conoce hoy dia por dar informacion fundamental durante el escandalo de Iran-Contra. El Sr. Castillol presento su testimonio delante del Comite Selecto de Inteligencia y aparecio delante de un jurado de acusacion en Washington, DC, para dar cuenta del involucramiento de la CIA en asesinatos, tortura, narcotrafico y el contrabando de armas. Despues de retirarse de la DEA, el Sr. Castillo se dedico a la educacion y el activismo en favor de organizaciones como People for Peace and Justice (Gente en favor de Paz y Justicia), Veterans for Peace (Veteranos por la Paz), y Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (Enforzadores de Leyes Contra la Prohibicion).
Agentes de la ATF (Buro de Alcohol, Tabaco, y Armas) arrestaron al Sr. Castillo el dia 6 de marzo de 2008 en San Antonio, Texas. Despues de ocho meses, la acusacion fue retirada bajo el caso "Poke vs. EEUU."
Antes de retirar los cargos, le dijeron al Sr. Castillo que debia declararse culpable a la nueva acusacion de "vender armas sin licencia y ser complice y ayudante en actividades ilegales." Se declaro culpable y lo sentenciaron a 37 meses en prision federal. Inicialmente le ordenaron que se presentara para su encarcelamiento el 5 de marzo de 2009, pero poco despues de su sentencia descubrio que su abogado, Robert "Eddie" de la Garza, estuvo bajo investigacion por el Colegio de Abogados durante el caso - y el Sr. de la Garza no le dijo a la corte que su licencia estaba en peligro de suspension. Tambien existia un asunto de conflicto de interes de parte del Sr. de la Garza, porque los mismos agentes que formaban parte del caso del Sr. Castillo tambien eran parte de la investigacion del hijo del Sr. de la Garza, Andrew de la Garza, al quien lo habian arrestado poco antes bajo acusacion de los mismos crimenes de los que estaba acusado el Sr. de la Garza.
Eljuez del caso del Sr. Castillo le extendio la fecha de reportar a la prision hasta el 20 de julio de 2009 para darle amplio tiempo para preparar su caso con su nuevo abogado.
El 10 de abril de 2009 el senor Castillo y su nuevo abogado presentaron 9 demandas de "falta de etica profesional" y "conducta intolerable del gobierno" en relacion con su caso. Las quejas se presentaron con la Oficina del Inspector General y la Division de Derechos Humanos en el Departamento de Justicia. Estas demandas son parte del Archivo Publico.
Los que firmamos este documento consideramos que la falta de etica en el caso del Sr. Castillo fue sumamente intolerable. Tambien tenemos la opinion que los agentes del Buro de Alcohol, Tabaco y Armas usaron el problema del hijo del abogado de la Garza para chantajear al abogado para que le diera al Sr. Castillo el peor consejo legal - hacer que el Sr. Castillo se declarara culpable aunque esa accion no fuera su mejor alternativa.
Los que firmamos abajo hacemos con respeto la peticion de que se abra una investigacion inmediata, profunda y urgente en la manera de que se condujo el proceso del caso del Sr. Castillo. Tambien pedimos que se demore la fecha de encarcelamiento del Sr. Castillo hasta la conclusion de sus investigaciones.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
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The Petition For Inquiry into the Prosecution of Celerino Castillo, III Petition to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was created by and written by Kathryn Graham (kate9954@gmail.com). This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.
