Marlon Castillo Pleads Guilty in Ariel Rosado Accident Death

Twenty-nine year old Marlon Castillo, a prominent cycling champion and butcher by trade, today pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death by careless conduct in the death of childhood friend and cycling buddy, Ariel Rosado when he appeared before Justice Adolph Lucas. He was originally charged with manslaughter by negligence. Around ten-fifty p.m. on May fourteenth, 2011, Castillo was driving a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with Rosado riding in the front passenger seat. The vehicle slammed into a cement fence on the curve near the PACT roundabout between Miles two and three on the Philip Goldson Highway. It then spun back onto the road, trapping its two passengers inside. Trial began earlier this week and Castillo was represented by attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley, who said the reason he agreed to have his client plead rather than go through a trial was to spare him and Rosado’s family the agony of reliving the accident. Nonetheless, he believed that Castillo had a fair chance of proving that the accident was genuine because a vehicle mechanic was prepared to testify that the accelerator had problems on the night of the incident. In court, Castillo spoke during mitigation and explained about losing his friend and what it has done to him: “Ariel Rosado and I grew up together. We ride the cross country cycling race together on the same team. I am truly and very sorry for what happened. Something like this has never happened to me before and I am so sorry.” Justice Lucas reserved sentencing for Friday, October twenty-first. He signalled that Castillo will be assessed a fine but not likely jail time.