Gun Owner Licensed to Possess Firearms, but Three Were Stored Improperly

BOSTON, Jan. 9, 2013—Two Dorchester men were held on half a million dollars’ cash bail each after prosecutors said they were arrested with a shotgun, an AK-47, seven handguns, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, and a large quantity of cocaine, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

AMILCAR CASTILLO (D.O.B. 8/3/67) and ESTUARDO-RAFAEL CASTILLO-GUZMAN (D.O.B. 12/6/69) were arraigned today in Dorchester District Court following their arrests yesterday by Boston Police executing a search warrant at their Rill Street residence.

“One of these defendants had nine loaded firearms in his room, including a loaded handgun under his pillow and an unsecured AK-47 next to his bed,” Conley said. “The other had more than 250 grams of cocaine. This is what we’re referring to when we talk about the nexus of guns and drugs in Boston. The amount of firepower and narcotics in this residence is extremely disturbing, and Boston Police did an outstanding job taking them both out of circulation.”

Both defendants are charged with trafficking in more than 200 grams of a Class B substance. Castillo-Guzman was additionally charged with unlawful possession of ammunition. Castillo was additionally charged with three counts of improper storage of a firearm and one count of possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Because Castillo has a valid Massachusetts license to possess and carry firearms, and because the firearms were recovered from his bedroom, he does not face additional charges related solely to their possession.

At the request of Assistant District Attorney Michael Callahan, Judge Robert Tochka imposed $500,000 cash bail for each defendant and ordered both men to surrender their passports.

Boston Police with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives stopped Castillo yesterday as he drove his car onto Rill Street, where he lives. They explained that they had a warrant to search his residence and a bedroom in the basement of the same building.

Officers recovered one round of ammunition and 44 plastic bags containing white powder from Castillo-Guzman’s bedroom in that basement. The powder weighed in at 268 grams and field-tested positive for cocaine.

In Castillo’s bedroom, officers found a much larger cache of weaponry. That cache included a Mossberg 500 shotgun loaded with five rounds of ammunition; a GP WASR-10/63 AK-47 rifle with two magazines, each loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition; a Walther P-22 .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun with two magazines, one of them loaded with six rounds of ammunition; a Walther PPK-S .380 caliber semiautomatic handgun with two magazines, each containing seven rounds of ammunition; a Glock 19 9mm semiautomatic handgun with two magazines, each containing 10 rounds of ammunition; a Glock 26 9mm semiautomatic handgun with two magazines, one containing nine rounds of ammunition and the other containing eight rounds of ammunition; a Ruger GP100 .357 caliber revolver loaded with six rounds of ammunition; and two Smith & Wesson 1911 .45 caliber semiautomatic handguns with four magazines containing a total of 14 rounds of ammunition. Four of the weapons were in a locked container; the Mossberg, AK-47, and one handgun were not.

In addition to the rounds and shells associated with those weapons, police recovered more than 1,200 pieces of ammunition in various calibers kept in boxes, bags, and crates throughout Castillo’s bedroom; about 35 plastic bags of various sizes; and $5,300 in cash.

Castillo is represented by Nancy Hurley and Castillo-Guzman is represented by Nancy Caplan. Both will return to court on Feb. 7.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.