After 20 years as a lawful permanent resident, a well-known Tucson mushroom forager has been arrested on immigration-related charges, for allegedly failing to disclose a decades-old drug arrest on an immigration form.
Hernán Castro, known locally as the “mushroom man,” was arrested May 31 after being indicted for failing to disclose the prior arrest, which friends say happened when Castro was a minor, on his 2022 application to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
According to a May 28 indictment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Arizona, Castro falsely answered “no” to the question, “Have you ever sold or smuggled controlled substances, illegal drugs or narcotics?” on Form N-400, which is an application for naturalization.
“Hernan is being accused of immigration fraud stemming from a drug charge during his teenage years, despite being a lawful permanent resident of the United States for over 20 years,” friends wrote on a Go Fund Me page, which had already raised more than $18,000 for Castro’s legal expenses as of Tuesday. “He was taken into custody with no warning and has been held in custody since May 31. His friends and family are doing everything possible to get him back home, but we need some help.”
Castro, 37, pleaded “not guilty” at a June 2 arraignment in U.S. District Court in Tucson, federal court records show. Castro is detained in U.S. marshals’ custody, pending a jury trial scheduled for July 15 before Senior District Judge Raner C. Collins, according to an entry in the court records.
Hernán Castro explaining what to look for while mushroom hunting in Madera Canyon on April 1.
Castro’s defense attorney, Matthew Green, declined to comment on the case Tuesday.
On the Go Fund Me page, organized by Castro’s partner Casiana Omick, Castro’s friends describe him as “a vital part of our Tucson community” and say the charges brought against him “threaten his future in the United States.” Omick declined an interview request from the Star.
Castro “is deeply passionate about mushroom cultivation, identification, education and ethical harvesting,” the Go Fund Me page says. “When not researching mushrooms, Hernan contributes his time and knowledge to promote eco-friendly practices and educate others about the importance of cleaning and preserving our environment. His commitment to the community makes him an invaluable asset, and he deserves the chance to continue his important work and community building here in Arizona.”
A self-trained mycology expert, Castro was featured in an April story in the Arizona Daily Star about his passion for the diversity of mushrooms growing in Southern Arizona’s Sky Islands, and about Castro’s campaign to establish a state mushroom for Arizona.
Castro launched a petition last year to give that title to the white king bolete, an edible mushroom species similar to an Italian porcini that thrives throughout Arizona, particularly among the ponderosa pines on Mount Lemmon, the Star’s Henry Brean reported.
The idea garnered the support of the Arizona Mushroom Society, which in February sent a survey, listing four contenders for state mushroom, to its 2,000 members and the 6,000 people on its mailing list.
Castro’s interest in fungi began in 2011, after his brother taught him about growing gourmet mushrooms, the Star reported. After his father was left partially paralyzed by a series of strokes in 2015, Castro began researching the medical benefits of mushrooms, he said.
For the last decade, Castro has spent most of monsoon season scouring Arizona’s Sky Islands for mushrooms. He told the Star he doesn’t deal with “magic mushrooms,” the psychedelic fungi that are illegal to grow, sell or possess in Arizona.
Seven years ago, Castro began leading foraging trips to Mount Lemmon and other mushroom-friendly locales, teaching others how to identify and ethically harvest different fungi species. He leads the foraging trips and sells fungi-related products through his business, Desert Alchemist.
“Once you start finding them, it’s sort of like an Easter egg hunt,” Castro told the Star in April. “I kind of fell in love with mushrooms, and before I knew it, I was all the way in.”
Castro’s Go Fund Me page says he “is being unjustly punished for actions taken when he was a minor. This case highlights a significant issue in our current immigration system, in which individuals can be unfairly torn from their families and lives even when they go through all the proper legal process of immigration, and even after living in this country legally for decades.”
