Man who allegedly made death threat inks plea deal

A suspected meth or “ice” distributor who allegedly threatened to kill a law enforcement’s confidential source has signed a plea agreement with the U.S. government.

Assistant U.S. attorney Rami S. Badawy informed the U.S. District Court for the NMI on Wednesday that Daniel A. Castro entered a plea deal with the U.S. government. Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona held a change of plea hearing for Castro on Friday at 9am.

Manglona recently deemed “serious” the death threat that Castro made to a law enforcement’s confidential source during a purported drug transaction. The meaning of Castro’s words themselves is clear, said Manglona, referring to the threat the defendant made to the confidential source.

Manglona issued the determination in an order that affirmed U.S. District Court for the NMI Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy’s decision to detain Castro pending trial.

The judge said defense counsel Timothy Bellas argued that the context—the three persons in the videotape are laughing—takes the edge off the threat.

Manglona, however, noted that the context includes the tone of Castro’s voice and the look on his face, and those convey a threat.

Castro was one of seven persons arrested in February for alleged distribution of “ice.”

The indictment charged Castro with four counts of distribution of methamphetamine. He pleaded not guilty of all charges.

At a hearing on Feb. 26, Kennedy ordered that Castro be kept detained pending his trial after finding that no conditions would reasonably assure the safety of the community.

On March 10, Castro, through Bellas, asked the court to review Kennedy’s detention order and release him on conditions, including electronic monitoring and the posting of a real property bond.

Bellas offered new evidence—the audio and video recording of the purported Nov. 6 drug transaction, disclosed by the U.S. government after the detention hearing—which he believed showed that the alleged threat to the confidential source was not credible.

In his declaration, Bellas said it is apparent that the persons depicted in the video are well known to each other and that the “threat” was made in a joking context or atmosphere.

Badawy disagreed and submitted a sealed copy of the recording and a transcript of the conversation translated from Chamorro to English.

Badawy said that during the Nov. 6 controlled buy-in during which Castro sold to the confidential source a quantity of “ice,” Castro threatened to kill the confidential source if he found out he was working with the “FBI.”

Badawy said the threat, made in Chamorro, was captured by an audio/video recording device worn by the confidential source.

The government lawyer said the confidential source informed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force of the threat shortly after it happened and that the confidential source felt the threat was serious and that he/she was frightened.