Joycelyn Castellano questions severity of charges against husband

By TOM KANE

NARROWSBURG - Jocelyne Castellano thinks her husband is getting a bum deal.

"Why are these charges against him criminal instead of civil?" she asked as she waited outside the Town of Tusten Court last Friday for the appearance of Richard Castellano, who was accompanied by two county sheriff deputies.

Castellano is in jail for three charges of grand larceny in the fourth degree and a bounced check charge. The grand larceny charges refer to three promises Richard made to actors who attended his acting school. He promised, in exchange for money, to get them Screen Actors Guild cards. He never got the cards and did not return the money.

The bounced check charge was brought by Narrowsburg chicken farmer John Borg who said a check for $5,000 bounced and Castellano did not redeem it. Borg also said he lent the couple over $150,000 which he intends to recover.

Jocelyne Castellano denies that they owe $150,000 to Borg. "It's more like $50,000, which we are trying to pay back," she said.

"I have a promise from [a number of] friends who are writing letters of protest to the district attorney to make the charges civil and not criminal," she said.

The Castellanos already have 14 civil judgments against them in small claims court, amounting to over $20,000.

Jocleyne said that she and her husband fully intended to pay all the people they owed. Richard has missed several acting opportunities because of his confinement in jail, she said.

For the last several weeks, Castellano's defense was handled by Legal Aid attorney Mark Sherman. Currently they have engaged a lawyer from Manhattan, Jocelyne said.

Bail was set at $25,000 by Tusten Justice Ralph Huebner at the request of the district attorney. Regarding the figure, "It is possible that he might skip town and so I agree with the amount of bail," Huebner said. Castellano's criminal case was removed from the Tusten court's jurisdiction and will go before a grand jury very soon, Huebner said.

Jocelyne said a bail bondsman from Brooklyn was willing to post bail but backed away when the DA's office said there were more criminal charges forthcoming that could involve an arrest and setting of bail.

"When the bail man heard that, he backed out," she said.

"It's no secret that there are more investigations of the Castellano case going on that might involve an arrest and the setting of bail," said Sullivan County District Attorney Stephen Lungen. "Other than telling a bail bondsman that fact, we couldn't comment further."

The bail company, which is located in Brooklyn, would not corroborate the story.

Jocelyne, president of the Narrowsburg International Independent Film Festival, said she would continue working to keep the festival in Narrowsburg. She moved out of her Main Street office and set up shop in a building recently purchased by a friend on Route 97, a half mile south of Narrowsburg. The building has recently been a discotheque, an Italian restaurant and was for many years a bar called the Blue Jay.

Eviction proceedings were brought by the landlord of the film festival office but Jocelyne moved out before papers were served, according to owner Stanley Harper. "She still owes us four months rent," he said.

"We are not going to skip town," Jocelyne said. "We are committed to this area."