Ex-cop Castro expected to plead guilty

Former Philadelphia Police Inspector Daniel Castro has apparently decided he will not put his fate in the hands of a second jury.

A notice filed in federal court yesterday said Castro plans to change his plea this morning.

Castro, 47, who was fired from the force after his indictment in November on extortion and related offenses, had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.

A federal jury in April found him guilty of lying to the FBI, acquitted him on an extortion-related charge and was hung on eight other charges.

Federal prosecutors said last month that they planned to retry Castro, and an Aug. 22 trial date was set.

But Castro, who had been a cop for 25 years and aspired to be police commissioner, seemingly had a change of heart.

Castro's attorney, Brian J. McMonagle, could not be reached for comment. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Lappen also was unavailable for comment.

Sources have said the former commander of the traffic division is expected to plead guilty to an extortion-related count.

He is believed to be the highest-ranking police officer in at least two decades to face criminal charges.

Federal prosecutors alleged during his extortion trial that Castro schemed to shake down businessman Wilson Encarnacion for a $90,000 debt Encarnacion owed him from a 2006 real-estate deal in Delaware that never materialized.

Castro admitted from the witness stand that he had authorized an FBI informant in September 2010 to give a purported "strong-arm collector" - who was actually an undercover FBI agent - the go-ahead to rough up Encarnacion in order to collect on the debt. (No actual extortion ever occurred.)

He maintained throughout the trial that he had been entrapped by the informant, Rony Moshe, a longtime friend and convicted drug dealer.

Castro was also charged with referring the services of the "collector" to two friends, businessman Alan Kats and restaurateur Billy Wong, both of whom pleaded guilty to extortion-related charges and are to be sentenced in September.

Jurors deadlocked on both of the extortion counts against Castro at trial, and several said the FBI and prosecutors had set him up.