Bernard F. 'Bernie' DeCastro - Popular
ex-con minister plans U.S. Senate seat run
Operator of Ocala work-release facility plans to walk across Florida in support of bid for the U.S. Senate.
07/30/09
More than 60 years ago, Bernard F. "Bernie" DeCastro started on a path that led from his home in a low-income suburb of South Miami into a life that included armed robberies. He was judged a hardened criminal and received a prison sentence of life plus 30 years.
But things changed for him when he hooked up with a Christian prison ministry and "prayed to receive Jesus Christ."
With more than 18 years of prison time behind him, DeCastro was paroled in 1984 and came to Ocala to start a new life.
Now he's going back to his old neighborhood, known these days as Little Havana, to start on a different path - one he hopes will lead him to the U.S. Senate.
DeCastro is hoping to get enough support to run on a Conservative Independent ticket for the seat being vacated by Mel Martinez. He'll start by walking more than 1,000 miles from South Florida to the northwest corner of the state.
Reflecting on a similar walk made by Gov. "Walkin'" Lawton Chiles during his 1970 campaign for the U.S. Senate, DeCastro said he plans to go a little beyond Chiles' distance of 1,033 miles.
"I'm calling it, 'Going the extra mile,' " he said. "I'm going to start where I grew up, with a cup of espresso coffee to get me going and maybe a Cuban cigar, if I can find one."
Labeling his effort a "Freedom Walk," DeCastro said it's about reinstalling the conservative principles of small government.
He expects the walk will take about three months. He plans to start in January from Little Havana and end somewhere in Escambia County. His route will take him to places that played a significant role in his life.
First, he'll gather with supporters at the two-story, wood-frame house he lived in when he was 4 years old. He'll visit three public schools he attended.
He also plans to make his way through Ocala, and he'll make a stop at Raiford State Penitentiary, where he spent 15 years of his prison sentence.
Shortly after settling in Ocala, DeCastro started Time For Freedom, a criminal justice ministry, in 1987. In 1994, 10 years after parole, because of his work with convicts and victims of crime, DeCastro received a full pardon from Gov. Chiles.
A few years later, DeCastro said, Gov. Jeb Bush invited him to serve on several task forces to reduce crime in Florida.
DeCastro said he has about 800 of more than 112,000 registered Florida voter signatures needed to start his campaign. He also is seeking supporters who will pledge a minimum of one cent per mile, or about $10, for the entire walk.
"I want people to walk with me, people who are as mad as I am about what's happening to our great constitutional republic," said DeCastro.
He is preparing for the trek by working out with a personal trainer. At 64, his goal is to lose 50 pounds and improve his fitness through diet, exercise and boxing aerobics.
Light-heavyweight boxing champ Danny Santiago, the owner of Central Florida Boxing Studio, said he's excited to be involved.
"We're gonna do it," Santiago said. "I'm going to help Bernie with the walk, whatever he needs.
"I just definitely want to get him in shape. That's my goal. The politics part is his," he said.
DeCastro goes to the gym with three of his five children several times a week.
"When Bernie first came in here - I'm not gonna pull any punches - he was in bad shape," Santiago said. "Within two weeks, I've seen a great improvement. I push Bernie, but I don't push him beyond where he could break."
If elected, DeCastro plans to hire someone to run his Time For Freedom ministry, which operates a 100-bed work-release center in Ocala.
"Congressmen have other businesses and they have other people to run their business for them," he said. "I just believe that if this is something God wants me to do, he's going to provide what I need."
|
