Castaldo Case Ends in Plea Deal
The Patrick Castaldo police brutality case has come to a close, with the former Putnam County Sheriff investigator taking a plea that his defense attorney called “vindication” Thursday morning.
Inside the county courthouse, Castaldo agreed to plead guilty to harassment in the 2nd degree, a much lesser charge than the three counts he was indicted on. Dutchess County Court Judge Edward McLoughlin, who was asked to preside over the case by Judge Alan Scheinkman, chief judge for the 9th Judicial District, signed off on the plea offered by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and agreed to by Castaldo, sentencing him to conditional discharge for a year.
McLoughlin, when handing down the sentence, said he considered Castaldo’s career with the sheriff’s department and the facts and circumstances of the case.
“I think it’s entirely vindication for my client,” Castaldo’s attorney Andrew Quinn said.
Castaldo was originally indicted on three charges in 2015, including filing a false instrument, a felony, and official misconduct and attempted assault, both misdemeanors, by former District Attorney Adam Levy. The case stemmed from a July 3, 2014 incident where shackled prisoner Kenneth DeFreitas tried to take former investigator Gerald Schramek’s gun in Carmel Town Court. Schramek and then Castaldo wrestled DeFreitas to the ground, stopping him from getting the weapon. In a surveillance video, it shows Castaldo continuing to strike the prisoner after he apparently was subdued.
The entire indictment was thrown out by Judge Robert Neary later in 2015 with Levy filing appeal before he left office. The appeal was won late last year and the indictment reinstated. Once current District Attorney Bob Tendy took over in 2016, he recused himself and handed the case to the Orange County DA’s Office.
Orange County Assistant District Attorney John Geidel said in court the offer came after an extensive review of the evidence and noted it would be difficult to prove the charges of filing a false instrument and official misconduct.
When addressing the misconduct charge, Geidel said because the incident with DeFreitas occurred on Thursday, July 3, 2014, and the next day was a national holiday and then the weekend, Castaldo only filed the paperwork 48 business hours later than usual. Geidel added it would be hard to prove Castaldo did so with the intent to gain some sort of benefit from the delay.
When addressing the attempted assault charge, Geidel said DeFreitas was a career criminal who was not injured in the course of the physical contact he faced from Castaldo. DeFreitas received $35,000 from the county after he filed a notice of claim over the dust up.
Quinn said he appreciated the Orange County DA’s office “fair and unbiased” look at the evidence and his client was ready to move on with his life and retirement.
Outside the courtroom on the fourth floor, Quinn had stronger words about the case against his client. He called the case politically motivated and argued Levy only brought the charges against Castaldo to gain leverage in his civil lawsuit against Sheriff Don Smith. Levy and Smith, longtime political adversaries, are both suing each other for $5 million over defamation.
“He indicted Pat Castaldo on a set of facts I don’t think any other district attorney in the country would consider criminal,” Quinn, claiming Levy abused his position of power, said. “I am 100 percent confident that if we went to trial on this case, we would’ve have won all counts.”
Michael Sussman, the attorney representing Levy in the civil suit, dismissed the accusation Levy only went after Castaldo to benefit his civil trial.
“The charge is nonsense and his client is a lawbreaker who is why he was and should have been prosecuted,” Sussman said in an email.
Quinn said Castaldo only pleaded guilty to a violation to put the case behind him and not have it hang over his head.
Quinn even said a parade should have been thrown for Castaldo, for saving himself, Schramek, and Judge Joseph Spofford. When asked if there is anything Castaldo should have changed the day of the DeFreitas incident and subsequent days, Quinn replied no, adding, “honestly, I would have told him to do exactly what he did.”
