Disclaimer of fallibility

This blog is the physical representation of my thinking at any one time; it's a way for me to communicate to you the mental progress I've made.  I consume a bunch of media, form new positions and ways to see the world, and share those with you.

I don't, however, claim that my pronouncements are accurate.  You could try a restaurant that I wholeheartedly recommend and find it to be terrible.  My opinions on management and technology could be vastly askew of what transpires in the years to come.  My opinions on how America should proceed in the Middle East or on what we should focus domestically could be completely off course.

Yet I still write these opinions which you, as a reader, can choose to embrace or ignore.  Why?  Because these opinions represent how I see the world based upon the conversations I have and the learnings I gather.  These are my truths and it is only through the collective spoken truths of all of us that we arrive at the truth, the right way forward, which always lies somewhere in the middle of the hundreds of millions of voices that constitute the American people.

With that said, it is my hope that my writing has led you to a more-clear view of at least one part of your world.

[This disclaimer of fallibility is based on the concept of pragmatism.]

Comments

[Joseph Castello]

7/20/07

Joseph Castello
3 John Street
Greenwich, CT 06831
Home (203) 869-8030
Cell (917) 696-7484
Email: joecastle99@yahoo.com

Jeff Maurone

Dear Jeff,

I’m writing to you because my story needs to be told.Is there anybody who could help me? My family and I have been persecuted by the U.S. Government since late 2001 and counting. In particular by I.R.S. Special Agent Neil Cohen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Burton Ryan, my name is Joseph Castello. I’m a 43 year old male. I’ve been married since September 8, 1990 to a wonderful woman named Dana and we have two beautiful girls, Sydney 12 and Casey 9. Sydney attends Western Middle School and Casey attends Parkway School, public schools in Greenwich, CT. We moved to Greenwich June of 2000 from Park Slope, Brooklyn, N.Y. I attended Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. and I’m college educated. I have a clean record. I was a N.Y.C. Lifeguard through High School and College, ran the N.Y.C. Marathon twice and did countless triathlons. I’m an innocent man who was living the American dream of hard honest work and making a better life for my family.
In late 2001, at that time I didn’t know it, I became one of the targets of an investigation set up by the Criminal Investigative Unit of the I.R.S. out of Long Island, N.Y. The Unit set up a task force which was to look into the Construction Industry in the New York City area. One of the leaders of the task force was Special Agent Neil Cohen. They were looking into alleged illegal activities such as, paybacks, kickbacks, union fraud, payroll fraud etc, etc and organized crime. My occupation at the time was a corporate check casher. I became involved in the business through my father in-law Sidney Schwartz. I would cash checks for companies for a fee, example 2%, giving the money to the customer and giving the check to one of the offices I brokered for. The office would then charge me 1% and I would make 1% of the gross of the check, in essence I was a check broker. I had hundreds of clients, and was not involved in their companies’ day to day operations, I simply cashed their checks. One February morning in 2002 Neil Cohen and another agent knocked on my door at 7:00 a.m. They wanted to ask me some questions. They took me to a nearby McDonald’s restaurant and proceeded to question me. After 1 ½ hours Mr. Cohen got up and said “This meeting is over because you’ve been lying to me”. I responded by saying that I have told you nothing but the truth. He responded by saying that “I know the answers to the questions before I ask them”. I then responded that someone gave you the wrong answers. He and the other agent then drove me home where they handed me two subpoenas. As Neil Cohen was walking away the other agent spoke and said “It looks like you have a nice family, don’t FUCK it up for your family!” I didn’t realize that it was the beginning of the end of my life as I would ever know it.
This story is very compelling and takes us to the essence of one of the problems with the judicial system in this country. The government with all its power imposes its will on their target and the truth becomes the first casualty in their dirty war. On the heels of the Duke University case and the disbarment of prosecutor Michael B. Nifong, cases like mine need to be heard so other innocent people can be saved from the senseless downward spiral of their lives and that the system might be improved. At this present time my family is destitute and I’m being evicted from my rental home. I rent the parsonage of a church. There are many interesting story lines i.e. Government taking my mother and fathers money, not being able to afford my own attorney, wearing an electronic ankle bracelet for two years and counting and having to pay for it, getting thrown in county jail for two months, indicting my wife and a lot more, but all through it I stood my ground maintained my innocence and in true David VS Goliath form with my second court appointed attorney, my wife and I won our case, though a hollow victory. How we persevered and finally got to that trial date in late January 2007 and the nightmare that continues is an amazing story. To this date the Government has not let go, the devastation that lies in their wake is amazing i.e. my financial future, my reputation, millions of lost dollars, the constant torture of their lies, the depression, the loneliness, the sleepless nights, the pain and suffering to my wife and children, the lost time that I can never get back, and their contribution to the death of my mom on April 1, 2007. At the end of the day when they all go through the court doors back to their nice safe lives, What door do I go through to get my life back?

Sincerely Yours,

Joseph Castello