Ronald Castorina Jr., a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, may have lied to a grand jury to avoid being implicated in creating fake Facebook pages.
In 2018, Castorina testified that he had nothing to do with the fake pages, which attorney Richard Luthmann created to target Castorina’s 2016 primary opponent.
Castorina claimed he knew little or nothing about the page and hardly knew Luthmann. Castorina’s testimony helped to avoid becoming a target of the prosecution, leaving Luthmann as the sole target.
However, Castorina’s Facebook messages with Luthmann reveal that he had been communicating with Luthmann since 2013, three years before the fake Facebook page appeared against Castorina’s opponent and five years before he testified that he hardly knew Luthmann.
Castorina’s lies may have helped him to become a judge in the New York State Supreme Court. The Facebook messenger conversations between Castorina and Luthmann suggest that Castorina lied without dignity or remorse.
Frank Parlato’s reporting details a series of conversations between Luthmann, an attorney convicted of creating fake Facebook pages to rig local elections, and Castorina, who served as one of the City’s ten election commissioners at the time.
In these conversations, Castorina appeared to have a friendly relationship with Luthmann and even suggested they have dinner and drinks soon.
Castorina testified against Luthmann in court, and Luthmann was eventually convicted and sent to prison. However, the article suggests that Castorina may have committed perjury during his grand jury testimony about his relationship with Luthmann.
Comparing Castorina’s grand jury testimony about his relationship with Luthmann with Castorina’s texts, Messenger, phone, and in-person meetings with Luthmann show evidence of perjury.
There is a day of destiny in men’s lives. For Judge Castorina, that day may have been August 1, 2018, when he testified before a grand jury and denied his friend.
The destiny of that day launched him high like a glowing meteor to be the judge of men and law. It may see him yet fall to earth, exposed as a man whose sensibilities and ethics are not to be admired any more than a petty cheat who lied when the test of truth was thrust upon him.
Read the Full Coverage at the Frank Report
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