VALLEY MAN, 39, ARRAIGNED ON MAIL THREATS.Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer WOODLAND HILLS -- Chad Castagana had no driver's license, so when he decided to send threatening letters to celebrities and politicians he walked to mailboxes on Ventura Boulevard near Canoga Avenue, according to an FBI affidavit. On Monday, the 39-year-old Woodland Hills man was arraigned in U.S. District Court and is being held without bail until Thursday, when a judge would reconsider his bail. He faces charges of conveying false information and sending threats and hoaxes via the U.S. mail, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Federal agents said he had sent more than a dozen letters containing a mysterious white powder to Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, ``Late Show'' host David Letterman and ``The Daily Show'' host Jon Stewart among other high-profile figures. Castagana used aliases such as ``William Shatner'' and fake return addresses and sent the letters over a three-month period, beginning in September, according to the FBI. Many of the notes inside the envelopes contained death threats, insults and anti-Semitic phrases, federal agents said. The contents of one letter to Stewart referred to Alan Berg, a Jewish talk-show host assassinated by white supremacists in 1984 in Denver. If found guilty, Castagana could serve up to 15 years in federal prison, officials said. A Joint Terrorism Task Force A Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, other federal agencies (notably Department of Homeland Security components such as U.S. that included investigators from the U.S. Postal Service The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs. and FBI agents from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and Los Angeles traced the letters containing the white powder to Castagana, according to the FBI. A search warrant of Castagana's Woodland Hills home revealed ``possible chemicals that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or or literature that shows how to make it.'' The FBI also confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. baking soda and Borax borax or sodium tetraborate decahydrate (sō`dēəm tĕ'trəbôr`āt dĕk'əhī`drāt), chemical compound, Na2B4O7·10H2O; sp. gr. 1. , latex gloves and newspaper clippings relating to Pelosi, Letterman, Stewart, and others such as Washington Post assistant managing editor Bob Woodward, MSNBC MSNBC Microsoft/National Broadcasting Company host Keith Olberman and New York Sen. Charles Schumer. Castagana told federal agents that he used household substances to make the white powder, to make sure he was being taken seriously. ``Suffice to say, he was presenting a clear danger by sending threats,'' said Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles office. ``Initial testing did not find the powder to be a biological threat.'' On an old van parked in the driveway of Castagana's hillside home, the phrase ``Death to all liberals'' is inscribed in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. on the van's dirty back window. Castagana lived in a beige, multistory mul·ti·sto·ry also mul·ti·sto·ried adj. Having several stories: a multistory hotel. Adj. 1. hillside home on Baza Baza (bä`thä), town (1990 pop. 21,123), Granada prov., S Spain, in Andalusia. It is a food-processing center for a fertile farm area noted especially for its cattle. Baza has flour and textile mills, tanneries, and cement plants. Avenue with his 78-year-old mother, Geneve, reportedly suffers from diabetes and rarely ventures out. He didn't like to be spoken to, said his closest neighbor, Diana Anderson. ``He said to me, `I don't have to talk to people face to face,''' she said Monday. ``I guess that's why he used the mail.'' Castagana ``described himself as a compulsive voter who votes Republican, and he said that he sent the letters to specific individuals because he did not like their liberal politics,'' according to an FBI affidavit. ``I don't think he's crazy or delusional,'' said Anderson. ``I think he may be bipolar and hasn't taken his medication. I wish he would have gotten help.'' susan.abram(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3664 CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 3) Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi and comedians David Letterman and Jon Stewart were targets of threatening letters. |
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