Socorro Independent School District trustees Pablo Barrera and Ricardo “Richard’ Castellano, and his wife Gabriela Castellano, allegedly targeted district employees at schools where they had personal connections, according to indictments released Friday.
Ricardo Castellano, 61, and Gabriela Castellano, 57, were indicted on two counts each of obstruction or retaliation involving Gabriela Elliott, a former principal at Bill Sybert School, where Gabriela Castellano was a third-grade teacher, according to an indictment filed April 25 to the El Paso County District Clerk.
Their scheme against Elliott began on Aug. 21, 2021, and continued until March 30, 2022, according to the indictments. No specific actions are mentioned in the indictment, but El Paso Matters in 2022 obtained an audio recording that showed the Castellanos trying to have Elliott removed as principal.
In the recording, Barrera boasted that he and Ricardo Castellano were “school board gods.”
The Castellanos were arrested Thursday and released on $4,000 bond. The charges are a third-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. It wasn’t immediately clear why the arrests came two weeks after the indictment.
Barrera, 39, was indicted April 25 on eight counts alleging illegal actions against Hueco Elementary School Principal Greg Hatch and his boss,Socorro ISD Assistant Superintendent Melissa Parham, in 2022 and 2023.
Barrera’s child is a student at Hueco Elementary.
He was arrested Thursday and released on bonds totaling $6,000.
Mary Stillinger, an attorney who presents the Castellanos and Barrera, said her clients were given no opportunity to respond to allegations before they were indicted.
She said on Friday that Ricardo Castellano and Barrera “have both raised many questions about the propriety of SISD’s activities. They have both sought a review of those activities from outside agencies. In fact, Mr. Castellano contacted TEA earlier in the day yesterday, after Mr. Barrera’s arrest (when he did not yet know that he and his wife would also be arrested) to notify them of Mr. Barrera’s arrest.
“He wrote in an email to TEA, ‘Again I remind you that we came to you and your agency presenting what we have identified wrong with the Socorro ISD. We informed you back then and several times since that the district was coming after us. . . . All I can say is we told you so.'”
Stillinger said “we have seen the indictment and know that there are no facts to support these charges.” She has said the accused look forward to clearing their names.
The District Attorney’s Office hasn’t responded to a question about why the arrests were made two weeks after he indictments.
Barrera was indicted on four counts of obstruction or retaliation, the same felony charge brought against the Castellanos.
He also faces two counts of official oppression, and one count each of coercion of a public servant or voter and improper influence. Those four charges are all Class A misdemeanors, which carry a penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
The indictments charging obstruction or retaliation and coercion accuse Barrera of retaliating against Hatch and impeding his ability to lead the school between July 1, 2022, and Sept. 15, 2023. One of the official oppression charges alleges he illegally attempted to influence Hatch at an official proceeding on May 30, 2022.
The improper influence charge and one of the official oppression charges allege that Barrera attempted to illegally influence Parham – who oversaw Socorro ISD’s elementary schools – during an official proceeding on May 30, 2022.
The indictments against Barrera don’t provide details of his alleged illegal activities.
The indictments came as a result of investigations by the Texas Rangers. Texas Rangers are often tasked with investigating misconduct and corruption of public officials, according to the DPS website.
Barrera and Ricardo Castellano remain members of the Socorro ISD Board of Trustees, spokesman Daniel Escobar said.
Neither the district nor the school board have the authority to remove a trustee from elected office, a Texas Association of School Boards spokesperson told El Paso Matters.
“A judge could decide to remove a board member but only at the conclusion of the criminal proceedings. It’s important to remember due process and the fundamental principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Texas school board members cannot be recalled from office by voters.
Barrera and Ricardo Castellano are both retired law enforcement officers — Barrera from Border Patrol and Castellano from El Paso Police Department. They were both elected in 2021, and their seats will next be up for election in May 2025.
Recordings of plans to oust a principal
At the time Gabriela Castellano worked at Bill Sybert School, she recorded conversations with her husband and Barrera on Aug. 10, 2021, in which they discussed plans to have Elliott removed as principal of the school.
She emailed the 33-hour audio recording on Aug. 30, 2021, to Socorro’s ISD interim human resources director as part of her grievance against Eliott and a school assistant principal. The recording began with a conversation between Elliott and Gabriela Castellano, then continued into the next day.
In a conversation recorded by Gabriela Castellano after a school board meeting on Aug. 10, 2021, Ricardo Castellano vowed to go to Interim Superintendent Marta Carmona to get Elliott removed as principal of Bill Sybert School.
“Maybe I should just file a grievance against that bitch, and she can give me the write-up there at the grievance,” Gabriela Castellano said.
“Well, I’ll get with Carmona. If she likes, double downs, protects Elliott, then we’ll (cross talk). If not, let … See if she’ll move her. You know what? Her time has come and gone. She’s a tyrant,” Ricardo Castellano replied.
El Paso Matters obtained a copy of the recording in December 2022, after the school district resisted releasing it for months, even after the Texas Attorney General’s Office ruled that it had to be made public.
Gabriela Castellano also recorded a phone conversation between her husband and Barrera, where they discussed Elliott.
“I’m going to talk to Carmona about this principal here thinking she’s all badass. I’m about to clip her wings,” Ricardo Castellano said.
“La vas a bajar del avión? You’re going to get her off her high plane?” Barrera asks.
Elliott continued as principal of Bill Sybert School through the end of the 2021-22 school year, when she became principal at Socorro Middle School. She currently is the principal of Eastlake Middle School in Socorro ISD.
Gabriela Castellano was placed on administrative leave in March 2022 and reassigned to James P. Butler Elementary. She most recently has been a PK-8 reading interventionist at Bobby Joe Hill PK-8 School In El Paso ISD. EPISD officials haven’t responded to a question from El Paso Matters on Friday about her status.
Texas Education Agency investigations
The Texas Education Agency had received several complaints alleging inappropriate behavior by Barrera and the Castellanos during a three-year investigation that ended when the district agreed in March to accept the appointment of state conservators to help oversee the district.
The complaints against Barrera and the Castellanos were not mentioned in the investigative report, but were included in an appendix. The investigations into complaints mentioned in the appendix ended when the school board voted to accept the appointment of conservators.
During a March interview, the Castellanos told El Paso Matters they believe they are being targeted by the school district and the TEA for previously blowing the whistle on unapproved stipends found in the investigation.
They provided no evidence that they were being targeted.
TEA spokesperson Jake Kobersky said the conservators, Michael Hinojosa and Andrew Kim, were aware of the arrests. He said the arrests don’t change the additional state oversight of Socorro ISD “at this time.”
Kobersky said TEA “was not privy to information concerning the scope of any law enforcement investigation (when it assigned conservators to Socorro). As a standard practice, the agency cooperates fully when law enforcement requests information or assistance.”
6:55 p.m. Friday, May 10: This story has been updated with comments from Mary Stillinger, the attorney for Pablo Barrera and Ricardo and Gabriela Castellano.
