Nelson L Castro

Since 2009, just nine months after he was first elected to the Assembly, he had led a double life: simultaneously representing the West Bronx in the Legislature, and informing on his colleagues to state and federal prosecutors investigating public corruption. On Thursday, Mr. Castro abruptly said he would resign under a deal to avoid prosecution himself, after the United States attorney in Manhattan announced that his cooperation had led to bribery charges against Assemblyman Eric A. Stevenson, a fellow Democrat whose district adjoins that of Mr. Castro, as well as four other men. Mr. Castro, 41, agreed to work with prosecutors after he was secretly indicted on three counts of perjury in the summer of 2009; the government claimed that in 2008, before he was elected, he lied during testimony he gave under oath during a civil lawsuit brought by a political rival who had accused him of election law violations. Nelson L. Castro was born on January 25, 1972, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His family relocated to the State of Michigan, where he completed high school at Berrien Springs High. He then continued his education and earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Andrews University. In 1995, he started working in the health care industry where he served for about 10 years as Sales Manager and Community Outreach Coordinator. Castro was able to get first-hand experience in the public sector by serving as Chief of Staff for Adriano Espaillat, then-State Assembly Member for the 72nd District.