AP: Calif. man accused of sending threatening letters out on bond

[Eugene]

Posted on Fri, Nov. 17, 2006

Calif. man accused of sending threatening letters out on bond
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A man charged with mailing more than a dozen threatening letters
containing white powder to celebrities, politicians and other high-profile figures
has been released on $350,000 bond.

Chad Conrad Castagana, 39, will remain under house arrest while he awaits trial on
charges of sending threats and hoaxes by mail.

He allegedly sent letters, bearing fake return addresses, to Democratic Rep. Nancy
Pelosi of California; comedians Jon Stewart and David Letterman; Democratic Sen.
Charles Schumer of New York; MSNBC host Keith Olbermann; and Viacom Inc.
chairman Sumner Redstone.

The powder contained in the letters turned out to be harmless.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/16038110.htm

[Hav]

1. .

He had 350k he could pay?

And he's under house arrest hahaha. I assume his mommy will take care of him.
Besides sitting at home, he didn't do anything else anyways.

[tlsmith1963]

8. Geez...

Did those Freepers help get him out? Someone check Free Republic!

[Crankie Avalon]

12. Don't they only have to put down 10% of the bond to get out?

$35,000? Maybe mommy took a second mortgage on the house? :shrug:

[lapfog_1]

21. The house that he occupies the bottom side entrance

level (not a basement) is valued at $940,000... and is old enough that it's likely completely paid off (assuming that his parents are the original purchasers).

So it should have been no problem for his mom to raise either the 10 percent required by bail bond companies or even to have pledged the house for him. Most likely she will have to sell the property anyway so that a legal team can be hired to represent him in court. I have a feeling that his parents are very disappointed in him, probably a long list of disappointments.

[ThomCat]

26. It would be even more funny if his FR account has been closed.

What the hell would he spend all day doing now? :7

[matcom]

28. it is

Rim Job deleted everything and shut down his account :rofl:

[ThomCat]

31. LOL! Poor little terrorist

home all alone with nobody to talk to and nothing to do. :rofl:

[truthisfreedom]

2. maybe if his fingers were removed we wouldn't have to worry about him being loose.

kinda sounds like a job for Tony Soprano.

[louis-t]

3. If his threats were toward Repugs, he would be in the "hole"

Solitary confinement, no bond.

[Beacho]

4. I womder what Padilla's lawyers think of this?

Sounds to me that not all accused 'terrorists' are equal.

[ThomCat]

27. That's a damned good point.

Why isn't guy being shuffled from jurisdiction to jurisdiction to avoid getting in front of a judge?

[matcom]

5. OUT? We now let TERRORISTS OUT ON BOND???

:wtf:

how did he even GET a lawyer?

[ThomCat]

29. He's a white male.

White men are allowed to be presumed innocent, and get privilages like Lawyers.

Now, if he had been brown and his targets had been republicans... :eyes:

[IWantAChange]

6. Soon to be a co-host with Billo?

[twilight_sailing]

7. house arrest?

The judge just threw him into the brier patch.

[Cocoa]

9. his lawyer says his actions are unusual for him

that struck me as funny. I'd think these actions would be unusual for anyone.

Castagana's public defender, Alicia Blanco, said the alleged actions were unusual for her client, who she said has no criminal history.

[denverbill]

14. Public defender?? Always leaching off the taxpayers those damn freepers.

I don't know why my hard-earned tax dollars should go to pay to defend some terrorist.

[zuzu98]

15. how does he even qualify for a public defender

if he can post a $350K bond and his mother lives in a $900K+ home?

[wakeme2008]

18. I would bet the mother paid < $150,000 for the home many years

ago.

[ThomCat]

30. You're damned right about him leaching off of tax money!

Freepers shouldn't be allowed to use public defenders! Aren't they the ones that want to do away with such services! Aren't they the ones who insist that only criminals get arrested, and that judges should impose the death penalty for this, that, and everything else?

[flying_monkeys]

10. Oh goody.

I can't wait to see him posting his ummmmm "experience" on FR.... Maybe by tonight?

[grasswire]

11. who posted that bail? (eom)

[kestrel91316]

13. Hey, anybody got his address? I could go snoop on him, lol.

:evilgrin:

[Maat]

16. Ah, the irony ...

I appreciate the irony of it all, anyway.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kestrel91316]

33. He's barely 2 miles from my office. And he's in the rich

neighborhood, south of Ventura Blvd. His momma's got $.

[grahamhgreen]

17. Meanwhile people who are never charged with anything

are rounded up, rendered to foreign soil and tortured for years...

[ThomCat]

32. If this guy has ever supported torture

then we should send him to Egypt so they can get a confession, slowly, by maybe sometime next summer.

[Guaranteed]

19. Should check FR to see if he's posting again. nt

[The Count]

20. "ordered not to mail anything"? Oh, the humanity! Poor martyr to the cause!

Notice how all articles are careful to say these were harmless, but forget to mention the motivation behind it. The choice ov victims featured make him sound like some sort of celebrity stalker.

[lapfog_1]

23. Bias in the media

YUP...

all other "anthrax pranksters" have been treated like real terrorists in the press, not this guy (except by KO, of course).

[Royal Sloan 09]

24. Preferential treatment

for GOP terrorists. Everyone else gets the gitmo treatment, with the media complying with the corporate doublespeak.

[Renew Deal]

25. He'll come back to a hero's welcome at terrorist headquarters in Freeperville.

He should be sent to gitmo.

[cassiepriam]

34. Who cares? He only threatened to kill Dems.

:sarcasm:

Of course if he had done the same to repugs he would be in
gitmo as we speak.

[pinniped]

35. She should have read his dribble on FreakPubic.

Castagana's public defender, Alicia Blanco, said the alleged actions were unusual for her client, who she said has no criminal history.