First Lady’s Maid Pleads Not Guilty to Smuggling Conspiracy

First Lady Nancy Reagan’s personal maid and two other persons pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges they conspired to smuggle ammunition to Paraguay.

“There is a possibility of more prosecution,” said Gregory Welsh, an assistant U.S. attorney. He declined to elaborate.

Anita Sanabria Castelo, 45, of Takoma Park, Md., who has been on administrative leave since Aug. 7 from the White House staff, Julio Cesar Baez Acosta of Paraguay and Eugenio Silva of Richmond appeared before U.S. District Judge Robert R. Merhige Jr.

Free on Bond

All three are free on bond awaiting a Nov. 3 trial.

A fourth man also indicted Aug. 28, Hernan Perdomo Duarte, has not been apprehended. Welsh said it is believed that Duarte is no longer in the United States. All four are natives of Paraguay.

The four allegedly conspired to buy and ship to Paraguay hundreds of thousands of rounds of .22-caliber long-rifle ammunition.

An ammunition expert said Tuesday there is little military use for .22-caliber ammunition.

“It’s mostly a sporting or target load,” Hugh Reed, a vice president for Federal Cartridge Inc. in Minneapolis, said in a telephone interview. “The Army makes some use of the load for training. There is an adapter for the M-16 rifle so the weapon can fire the .22 Long Rifle.”

Acosta and two men not charged by the grand jury gave money to Silva to buy the ammunition, according to the indictment.

The night of their arrest, Castelo, Acosta and Silva all denied knowledge of the ammunition when questioned by federal agents.