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Since playing a key role in exposing Lt. Col. Oliver North and the CIA�s role in narco-trafficking as part of the Iran/Contra scandal, former DEA agent Celestino Castillo has been targeted. Recently nailed on trumped up charges for selling firearms after a gun show to an eligible (non-felon) buyer without the proper paperwork, he has lost his last attempt at staving off beginning his harsh sentence of 37 months.

Cele Castillo ordered to report to federal prison

Bill Conroy - July 12, 2009

Judge revokes former DEA agent�s bond even after being made aware of prosecutorial misconduct allegations

Iran/Contra whistleblower Celerino Castillo is being sent to jail after his encounter with the buzzsaw of Texas justice.

Despite being represented by an attorney, Robert E. De La Garza, suspended by the State Bar of Texas for misapplying clients� funds, the federal judge determined that there is no evidence of Castillo�s defense being tainted by the stink of ineffective assistance of counsel.

The fact that the attorney�s son is facing federal gun charges, similar to those brought against Castillo, also has been deemed to be little more than an �inference� of a conflict of interest on the part Castillo�s attorney. Hence, the judge, at a hearing July 10, 2009, in San Antonio, ruled that Castillo is not likely to succeed in his appeal now pending before the Fifth Circuit.

As a result, the judge � after extending in mid-February Castillo�s report-to-prison date by some four months due to the very same ethical concerns raised about his attorney � did an about face and ordered that Castillo report to prison on July 30 � to begin serving a 37-month sentence for violating federal firearm regulations, enhanced due to the judge�s apparent belief that Castillo sold weapons in Mexico.

Castillo, a self-proclaimed gun enthusiast who frequents gun shows, concedes he did sell some legally purchased guns absent the proper federal paperwork. However, he stresses none of those weapons were sold to prohibited purchasers (i.e., convicted felons) and he vehemently denies that any guns were sold in Mexico � nor is there any convincing evidence to the contrary, beyond prosecutorial inference, that has been produced.

Castillo, and other law enforcers who spoke with NarcoNews, contend the federal prosecutor in the case turned Castillo�s paperwork violation (selling legally purchased weapons without a firearms-dealer permit) into a federal arms-trafficking case as payback for his whistleblowing activity � for exposing the CIA and White House�s complicity in arms- and narco-trafficking as part of the Iran/Contra scandal that played out during the administration of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

The key to the severity of the prison sentence meted out to Castillo � who is a former DEA agent and decorated Vietnam veteran with no prior criminal record � that Castillo was likely trafficking weapons in Mexico � and by implication to members of narco-trafficking cells.

But NarcoNews recently obtained documents alleging the judge in Castillo�s case was misled about the charges by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton (a �dear friend� of former president George W. Bush).