Nancy Reagan’s Maid Seized as Gunrunner

Nancy Reagan’s Paraguayan-born personal maid, who traveled with her to meet the Pope and Queen Elizabeth II, has been charged with helping to smuggle small-caliber arms out of the country, a White House spokesman said today.

Deputy Press Secretary Larry Speakes said Anita S. Castelo, a 45-year-old maid who helped the First Lady with her wardrobe, has been placed on administrative leave after being charged with gunrunning along with two Paraguayan nationals.

Speakes said Castelo was placed on leave last Thursday and arraigned in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., on Friday. The Reagans were informed of the charges against her the same day, he said.

She surrendered voluntarily, he said, and entered a plea of not guilty. She was released by the court on personal bond and waived her preliminary hearing in the court on Tuesday.

Speakes said that although Castelo’s duties did not involve any responsibility for classified information, she was questioned by the Secret Service to ensure that her activities did not breach national security.

She was accused of taking part in a scheme with two Paraguayan men to smuggle small arms and ammunition to Paraguay. The charges against her are considered a felony and provide for a substantial fine and jail sentence.

Castelo, who became a naturalized citizen in 1967, will continue to receive her $17,430-a-year salary while on administrative leave, Speakes said.

He said Castelo was born in Paraguay and has served on the White House residence staff since 1981. She is married to Manuel Castelo, a naturalized Portuguese, and before working at the White House she was employed as a part-time housekeeper at Blair House, the presidential guest house.

Castelo traveled with Mrs. Reagan on Air Force One constantly.

Elaine Crispen, Mrs. Reagan’s press secretary, said Castelo saw to it that the First Lady’s clothes were cleaned, pressed and mended. She packed Mrs. Reagan’s clothes and also accompanied her on foreign trips where an extensive wardrobe for state functions was necessary, the spokeswoman said.

Castelo accompanied the First Lady to Rome to meet Pope John Paul II, the Tokyo economic summit and visits to other Far Eastern nations, as well as Mrs. Reagan’s visit to London for the royal wedding last month, Crispen said.

The First Lady also has a personal secretary who helps her with her correspondence and other paper work, but Castelo was her only personal maid, Crispen said.