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Failed “Never Trump” Republican presidential candidate John Anthony Castro may not have forced President-elect Donald Trump off the New Hampshire primary ballot, but he did beat the GOP nominee at something: Castro is the first to go to prison.

Castro was sentenced on Halloween to 188 months in federal prison (more than 15 years) on 33 felony counts of filing false tax returns. That works out to about one year for every million dollars he reportedly collected in his tax scam, according to court records.

Castro, 33, sued the state of New Hampshire twice during his idiosyncratic 2024 presidential bid, an effort to boot Trump from the ballot. The campaign mostly consisted of federal lawsuits Castro filed to get Trump off the ballot in 32 states. Castro used the legal actions to generate publicity for his quixotic campaign.

He also used some computer-generated graphics to project a campaign that doesn’t appear to have existed.

Publicity seems to have been his currency of choice, as the Castro For President campaign only reported about $800 in total donations just weeks before he was indicted in Texas on the tax fraud charges. Castro’s New Hampshire campaign had no offices, no paid staff, no in-state volunteers, and no identifiable supporters. He still did manage a few votes in the First in the Nation presidential primary, however.

In an effort to prove to the courts he had a viable political operation, Castro sent his brother-in-law and cousin to New Hampshire to put up campaign signs. The pair later testified they spent time in the city of “Noshua” and only talked to about a dozen people. 

Castro started his presidential campaign in order to get Trump off the ballot ahead of the primaries. Partly inspired by the 14th Amendment clause that prohibits insurrectionists from holding office, Castro based his lawsuits on the legal theory that if he was a presidential candidate himself, he could argue Trump was illegally taking his votes. That theory was charitably considered “novel” by the courts. 

Castro, who is not a licensed attorney, operated a tax law firm in Texas where he reportedly made up deductions for his clients, without their knowledge, in order to obtain larger than allowed tax refunds. Castro’s firm then took a percentage of the refund instead of a flat fee from the clients.

In a letter to United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of Texas Terry Means, Castro explained he did not so much make up deductions that did not exist as he estimated, incorrectly, deductions he thought should exist.

“Estimations and fabrications both involve arriving at final figures that a taxpayer did not expressly provide,” Castro wrote. 

Castro’s outside-the-box legal strategy led him to ask for a bench trial decided by Means, and not a jury, during which he took the stand and testified in his own defense. Even after his conviction, Castro maintains this plan was, maybe, divinely inspired. 

“I vividly recall the dream I had that instructed me I could trust your Honor’s judgment,” Castro wrote to Means. “This is what led me to pursue a bench trial and take the stand in my own defense. Others may call my decision foolish, especially in light of the verdict. But I knew and still know that, as a brother in Christ, your love of and faithfulness to justice, fairness, and transparency will validate my decision.”

Castro has a long and strained history with the truth, according to court records. Though he did graduate law school, Castro never passed a bar exam in any state. That did not stop him from presenting himself as a licensed attorney until 2016, when the Florida State Bar sent him a cease and desist letter for his unlicensed practice of law. 

Prosecutors say Castro also lists himself as a military veteran on his Texas driver’s license, though he has never served in the military. Castro did attend a military academy prep school as a teen, though he did not graduate and did not go on to attend any military academy.

Along with the prison sentence, Castro must pay $277,000 in restitution to the IRS. If there’s a plus side, the federal convictions do allow Castro to apply for a pardon from Trump. 

He’ll always have Noshua.

Indicted on 33 criminal counts for allegedly filing false tax returns, John Castro’s presidential campaign would be facing a serious roadblock if that campaign had a car. Or knew where the road was.

The law school graduate, who is not a licensed attorney, is in trouble for allegedly making up deductions for clients of his Texas tax law firm, according to the indictments. Castro allegedly used the fake deductions to collect big refunds for clients, and split the take with them, the indictment alleges.

Castro launched his presidential ambitions as part of his effort to boot former President Donald Trump from the GOP presidential primary ballot in 32 states, including New Hampshire. His latest New Hampshire lawsuit is pending while United States District Court Judge Samantha Elliott decides whether or not Castro’s $800 campaign with two volunteers, no offices, and no New Hampshire Republican supporters counts as a viable concern.

Castro was indicted in United States District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 3, the same day he was in Concord trying to convince Elliott that sending his brother-in-law and cousin to New Hampshire to plant 15 Castro for President lawn signs on vacant lots outside Nashua counts as a serious presidential campaign. 

The New Hampshire campaign swing was headed by volunteer campaign David Garza, who is also Castro’s personal assistant and brother-in-law. Garza brought his cousin and fellow Castro employee, Alexander Gomez. Garza testified they started the one day of fieldwork in a city south of Manchester called Noshua, though Gomez testified it was called Joshua.

If any New Hampshire Republican Castro voters exist, they may be dissuaded by indictments that lay out a years-long scheme to defraud the government and lie to clients.

According to the indictments, Castro’s tax law firm attracted clients by offering large refunds, larger than they could get filing themselves, or by employing an accountant, or by hiring an actual licensed tax attorney. One client was entitled to a legitimate refund of less than $400, but Castro promised to get back more than $6,000 from the government, the indictment states.

Castro did get the large refund by claiming almost $30,000 in deductions that the client did not have, the indictment states. 

“These were not expenses that the (client) had identified or discussed with Castro and were not based on information provided by the (client) to Castro or his employees and were not approved or verified by the (client). These false statements resulted in a claimed refund of $6,007.”

Castro allegedly split the big paycheck with the client, keeping $3,000 for himself. Unknown to Castro, that client happened to be an undercover informant for the government, according to court records.

Castro presents himself as a tax attorney qualified to represent clients in federal court, though he is not licensed to do so. He explained to Judge Joseph LaPlante in October that he can act as a “federal practitioner” thanks to a loophole he found in college.

Castro thinks he’s found another loophole to get Trump off the ballot, using the 14th Amendment and the GOP nominating process. Castro is on primary ballots in several states as a Republican presidential candidate under the theory that his candidacy will confer the necessary legal standing to force Trump’s name to be removed.

Castro’s lawsuits claim that Trump is unqualified to be president due to the 14th Amendment’s anti-insurrection clause. He’s suing by alleging Trump’s continued campaign is costing Castro, potential voters, and donors. Castro has yet to prove his campaign has any New Hampshire Republican supporters, and of the $800 he raised last year, none came from any Granite State resident. 

Less convoluted attempts to get Trump off the ballot have had limited success. Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows recently announced she was blocking Trump, as did the Colorado Supreme Court. Both of those decisions are pending review by the United States Supreme Court, and Trump’s name is on the ballots already printed for New Hampshire’s upcoming first-in-the-nation primary.

Granite State Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the move by Maine’s secretary of state to take Trump’s name off the ballot, according to the new CNN/UNH poll. The same poll found independent voters also oppose the action by 50 to 40 percent.

Castro is representing himself in the many so far unsuccessful lawsuits he’s filed to get Trump off the ballot based on his qualifications. He graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2013. However, The New York Times reports Castro is likely to hire a lawyer for the criminal case. 

Ballots for the First in the Nation presidential primary have been printed, so it’s all but certain Donald Trump’s name will be listed. But that’s not stopping one last, longshot attempt to dump Trump, a legal challenge that hinges on the brunch-loving brother-in-law of a Texas tax attorney.

The tax attorney is John Castro, whose name will also be on the GOP First in the Nation primary ballot. He’s also going to court to try to kick Trump off it.

Castro’s novel legal theory is that as a GOP challenger to Trump, he can show that he’s being harmed by the former president’s allegedly illegal appearance on the ballot. He says Trump is siphoning support and donations that could otherwise go to him. Castro says Trump can’t appear on the ballot because he’s guilty of “insurrection,” and it’s the duty of New Hampshire state officials to remove him under the 14th Amendment.

That’s the same argument used by Colorado’s Supreme Court and Maine’s Secretary of State when they declared Trump ineligible to appear on the ballot in their states. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to review those decisions soon.

Castro first made his claim last October. His case was dismissed after U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante ruled, in part, that a presidential campaign that managed to raise just $670 was not a serious candidacy. Castro appealed to the First Circuit Court, which sided with LaPlante, but left a crack open for Castro to try again.

“We conclude that for Castro to show that he was a ‘direct and current competitor’ at the time he filed his complaint, he must show, at the very least, that at that time he was ‘competing’ with the former President and that he was doing so in the 2024 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary itself,” the First Circuit ruled in November.

Castro filed a new lawsuit last month, claiming he can now prove he’s a real candidate. With a little help from his family.

David Garza is Castro’s personal assistant and one of only two identified campaign volunteers supporting the Castro 2024 effort. He’s also Castro’s brother-in-law. 

Garza testified before U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliott on Wednesday that he and his cousin, Alexander Gomez, flew to New Hampshire the day after LaPlante’s ruling to get serious about the campaign. (Gomez is also an employee of Castro’s tax business.)

The pair flew to Manchester on Oct. 27, drove to Concord, checked into their hotel, got some dinner, watched some baseball, and planned out their big day to follow before turning out the lights. 

The next day, armed with about 30 Castro campaign yard signs, the pair drove south to a New Hampshire city Garza called “Noshua.” That conflicted with the testimony of Gomez, who testified he thought the city was called “Joshua.”

Whatever the city, they picked a residential street at random and got down to the hard work of campaigning for president. Garza and Gomez knocked on between 10 to 12 doors to ask if they could put up Castro signs. After getting 10 to 12 rejections, they decided to start putting the signs up on vacant lots somewhere between Joshua (or Noshua) and Manchester, Garza testified.

Elliott halted the proceedings and stopped Garza’s testimony when it became clear he may not have sought permission from the owners of the vacant lots, possibly violating New Hampshire election law.  

After posting between 12 to 15 lawn signs in legally dubious locations, the pair went to brunch, did some antiquing, and then headed back to their hotel to watch more baseball. That evening, the cousins went to a Halloween festival in Concord. Asked if they used the festival as an opportunity to campaign for Castro, Garza said they were off the clock.

“We were very tired at the time, and we just wanted to be ourselves,” Garza testified.

The pair claimed they also spent a day on the campaign trail in Arizona in early November but only managed to put up about five signs due to the hard desert ground, they testified.

As for the candidate himself, Castrol told the court that, while he cannot identify a single New Hampshire voter who is supporting him for president in the primary, he has spoken to some. And, he argued, because his social media campaign has reached thousands of people in the Granite State, the laws of statistical probability indicated he must have certainly reached at least one Republican voter at this point in his campaign.

Castro has dozens of lawsuits filed across the country trying to boot Trump from state ballots, and he’s repeatedly said his presidential campaign is simply part of his anti-Trump legal strategy. But on Wednesday, he told the court he should be treated as a viable candidate. Now that that former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott have dropped out of the race, Castro says he has a real chance.

Castro’s campaign raised nearly $800 in donations for all of 2023, though nothing from any New Hampshire resident.

Elliott is expected to rule on the case in the coming days.