Nelson Castro’s career as a politician and undercover informant began with a lie. Ironically, the lie made him one of the most trustworthy lawmakers in New York.

“With the amount of supervision he was under from the very beginning, there was no person less likely to be corrupt in Albany than Nelson Castro,” said Castro’s lawyer, Michael C. Farkas.

Before becoming the first Dominican elected official from the Bronx, rising to a leadership position on immigration issues in the state Assembly and becoming a star in a federal corruption case against fellow Bronx assemblyman Eric Stevenson, Castro stood accused of voter fraud.

Case Vanishes

In the summer of 2008, Mike Soto, one of Castro’s opponents in the race for the 86th assembly district, which includes parts of Fordham and University Heights, brought a general objection to his collection of registered voters who had a signed his petition to get on the ballot for the fall primary.

Under scrutiny, it turned out that nine people on his petition said they lived in Castro’s one bedroom apartment in the west Bronx, including some who were his relatives. Castro said he didn’t know any of them.

According to reports, the mediator hearing the case found his testimony “less than credible” and it looked like Castro would be kicked off the ballot. But somehow, the controversy melted away.

Ultimately, Castro, who was also found to have a short criminal record from his younger days and thousands of dollars in unpaid parking tickets, remained on the ballot and easily won election.

His honeymoon as an assemblyman didn’t last long. Just a few months into his freshman year as a legislator, in April of 2009, Castro was indicted on perjury charges by the Bronx District Attorney’s office.

Rather than face the charges, which political insiders say would have been difficult to prove, Castro cut a deal. He agreed to help the DA’s office uncover corruption and, in exchange, they would seal the indictment and Castro could continue to hold his job in Albany.

On His Own

For four years, and two re-election campaigns, Castro continued on as a state legislator, solidifying his hold on the 86th assembly district despite vigorous opposition from his own party.

In 2008, Bronx Assemblyman Jose Rivera was chairman of the Bronx Democratic County Committee, which comes with serious political clout in the borough. Despite a couple of minor red flags, Rivera said County’s executive committee at the time recommended Castro to fill the 86th assembly seat, which was vacated by Luis Diaz who had taken a job working for Governor David Patterson.

Despite the flags, which included his criminal record and the outstanding parking fines, Castro was experienced, having worked as chief of staff for upper Manhattan Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, who’s now a state senator.

Still, Castro wasn’t connected in Bronx political circles and the decision to go with Castro over party loyalist Hector Ramirez upset some of the rank-and-file Bronx Democrats.

Later that fall, Rivera was ousted as chairman during a raucous meeting at the historic Paradise Theater on the Grand Concourse.

In 2010, the new leaders of the Bronx County Democrats put their full weight into taking out Castro, pouring its resources and ground game into the candidacy of Hector Ramirez.

A Solid Reputation

Mike Nieves, a top Democratic political operative who’s worked on campaigns all over New York, said the County Committee tried, but couldn’t dig up any dirt (other than what was already known about him) on Castro because it simply wasn’t there.

“He was clean,” Nieves said.

Castro ended up beating Ramirez soundly and other borough elected officials began warming up to him.

Over the next two years, Castro developed a reputation as an effective legislator and an engaged representative for his constituents. Recently, he was named head of the assembly’s sub-committee on New Americans, where he championed pro-immigrant legislation.

Rivera, for one, was impressed.

“He was doing a lot of stuff,” Rivera said. “He was very visible, bringing people together. And he was doing that until all of this exploded. It broke my heart.”

Although Castro admitted to the perjury charges and helping out on “various” investigations over the past four years, nothing came of his cooperation with law enforcement officials until early 2012, when a political operative named Sigfredo Gonzalez approached him with an offer.

Working for the Feds

Gonzalez, who worked for former Bronx state senator and now convicted felon Pedro Espada, was working for a group of developers. They wanted to open two new adult day care centers, one in Castro’s district on Jerome Avenue and another in Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson’s central Bronx district.

Gonzalez told Castro that he wanted to set up a meeting with his associates. At the meeting, Castro said he would help out the developers in exchange for “special treatment.”

One of the developers, Igor Tsimerman, according to court documents, told Castro, “I am sure that we can afford the same ‘special treatment’ that is necessary in the course of this business and that are vital for the existence and course of this business.” He added. “We’ll be able to help, we’ll be there for you.”

At the time, Castro was wearing a recording device provided by law enforcement officials.
According to court documents, a few weeks later, on Jan. 27, Gonzalez brought Castro an envelope containing $12,000. Gonzalez took $2,000 for himself and gave the rest to Castro.

A few months later, Gonzalez began working for the federal government and, over the next year, with little help from Castro, helped the United States Attorney’s office build a strong case against Stevenson and the developers.

Prosecutors say for around $20,000, Stevenson, who comes from a politically-connected family and represents some of the poorest neighborhoods in the central Bronx, including Morrisania, agreed to help the developers cut thought red tape, recruit seniors for the two new adult day care centers and introduce legislation that would eliminate competition for the developers.

When the indictment against Stevenson and the developers was unveiled on April 4 (he and the developers pleaded not guilty), Castro announced that he would resign as part of his cooperation agreement.

The next week, Castro’s indictment on perjury charges was unsealed and, although he admitted to lying about not knowing the registered voters who claimed his address back in 2008, he pleaded not guilty.

“I deeply regret my misconduct while campaigning before I was elected to office,” Catro said in a statement. “It is my sincere hope that my constituents remember me most for the good I have done as their representative, rather than for the poor example I set as a candidate.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the April 18-May2 print edition of the Norwood News.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.