Former Pittsfield Attorney Sentenced For Bulk Cash Smuggling

BOSTON – A former Pittsfield attorney was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Springfield for smuggling $125,000 into the United States from Bermuda.

John Castiglione, 75, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to one year of probation and forfeiture of $125,000. On March 22, 2019, Castiglione pleaded guilty to one count of bulk cash smuggling. According to the terms of his plea agreement, Castiglione agreed to resign from the practice of law and to never again seek admission to the bar.

On approximately May 2, 2014, Castiglione attempted to mail two packages containing $60,000 and $65,000 from Bermuda to his residence in Pittsfield, with the intent to evade federal reporting requirements concerning the cash. After law enforcement officers seized the packages in the United States, they interviewed Castiglione, who admitted that he was aware of the federal reporting requirements but had attempted to smuggle the money into the United States because, in part, he did not want to pay any taxes and fees. In addition, Castiglione also provided various contradictory statements regarding the origin of the $125,000, including a false statement that the money might have been owned by a client of his law practice, when he knew that the money actually belonged to his family.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.