Saturday, December 4, 2010

Film festival founder deported

From the Times Ledger:

Marie Castaldo, the disgraced founder of the Queens International Film Festival who pleaded guilty to fraud in Queens and multiple counts of animal cruelty in Ulster County, N.Y., was recently deported, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said this week.

Castaldo had been charged in August with failing to pay more than $14,000 to multiple vendors for the 2007 and 2008 film festivals. These companies included Ballyhoo Central, Brooklyn’s Rooftop Films, Manhattan video equipment provider Big Apple Rentals and Connecticut projectionist James Hill.

Castaldo, who founded the QIFF festival and ran it from 2003-2009, is a French national. It was not known when she left the country or where she was sent. A spokesman for ICE would only say “she was deported from the United States.”

The Queens DA’s office said Castaldo pleaded guilty to the fraud count in September and was eventually sentenced to a conditional discharge, which meant she was able to avoid jail time but had to abide by certain conditions. These required that she pay back the companies and stay out of trouble for a year, the DA’s office said.

The Ulster County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also arrested Castaldo in late July for keeping 48 dogs locked in cages at an empty storefront of a former feed store in Phoenicia, N.Y.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go eat frog legs you filthy Huguenot.

Auntie Invasion said...

wasn't this held at the Sunnyside Senior Center? I though something was up w/ the festival when there were only a token number of local film makers. One of the films was about the women who get paid to dance with Mexican illegals. we're supposed to feel so sorry for people who are breaking the law? they're not even supposed to be in the country, they're going to elbow their way in but we're supposed to feel so terrible that they are making a living in bars? how come there isn't a Queens Crapper Film Festival or something like that?

Anonymous said...

I'll tell you non-citizens and illegals rule the roost in the USA we are wimps and don't hunt down these feral types.

Anonymous said...

She looks like a basset hound.
Did she beat up on basset hounds?

Anonymous said...

She's HOT!!!

Anonymous said...

PIG BASTARD

Anonymous said...

Come on Crapper, let's see you put up a film festival.

Anonymous said...

French national? Deported as fast as possible. No need to worry, there aren't many french support groups around.


Hispancs? Can't touch em or there will be riots in the "diverse" streets.

Anonymous said...

my thoughts exactly. I know of a German guy who was a businessman on Long Island who was immediately deported for a relatively minor charge -- wasn't even able to wrap up his affairs and lost tens of thousands of dollars as a result. Yet illegal hispanic, caribbean, african and asian filth roam the streets with impunity. WTF?

Anonymous said...

Why did she do that to the dogs? fucking bytch.

Anonymous said...

She wasn't illegal I read in the paper, she had been here for 20 years, they just deported her as a punishment instead of jail time.
There are many mexican mafias that steal way more than that and do worse than having a puppy mill but they don't get deported. They probably have many kids that could be many tax payers- if they ever do.
All the films playing at this festival were bringing in some Hollywood stars and up and coming indie movies, the actors and film directors had no idea this was going on, she scammed companies she hired to run the fest, not the artists fortunatly.