16 Oct 9th-Oct 15th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Some of his friends say yes. Andrew Bartolic is the master brewer at Catalina Brewing Company, a neighbor- hood bar and brewery in Tucson. He’s known Castro for six years, collaborating with him on a seasonal, mushroom-infused beer that Bartolic said “sold out in 24 hours.” Bartolic also leases space in the back of the brewery, which Castro uses to grow some mushrooms and make and store his tinctures. He’s gone on foraging treks with Castro and uses some of his products to help with digestion and sleep. He thinks the case against Castro is “bullshit.” “He’s a good guy,” Bartolic said. “He’s a business owner. He pays his taxes. He does stuff legally, and he’s had a huge impact in the community.” Bartolic acknowledged that mushrooms “can have a notorious reputation” for “stuff Castro was not trying to do.” Rather, Castro was “trying to make people healthier, happier and educate them.” Still, the times are troubling, and those who garner any bit of fame, no matter how circumscribed, are in peril — especially if they’re not U.S. citizens. “I think that anyone who has a voice or a name in the community, stuff like that happens to them,” Bartolic said. Another friend of Castro’s, musician and educator Pablo Bley, believed Castro’s predicament is emblematic of the country’s new zealously anti-immigrant regime. He said Tucson, which is about 70 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico line, is awash in fear over the feds’ aggressive immigration crackdown. “Not just Hernan, but many people in this area have been targeted,” Bley said. “It’s pretty clear what’s happening in the streets these days.” Bley, who is also an amateur mycologist and helped put on the Funga Fest, believes Castro will do well in court. He has the support of family and friends, a healthy war chest that’s been raised for him and competent legal counsel. That gives him a puncher’s chance, but on the other side of the ring is the federal government, which is rounding up and disappearing people and running roughshod over civil liberties. “Let’s just say that anybody in his posi- tion is at risk at this time,” Bley said. Should the worst happen, and Castro is removed from the U.S., the impact will be felt beyond Tucson. A mycology commu- nity that popped up in the college town, like so many mushrooms after a summer rain, will lose one of its central figures. Tyler Hacking, a Utah agronomist and botanist who lectured at the Funga Fest, told New Times via direct message that he’s never met Castro, save through a video call that Castro did from prison for the event. He called it a “surreal experience” and credited Castro for bringing “all those people together” at the festival. Clearly, he’s someone who belongs in the community, not on the verge of depor- tation over a paperwork error the federal government has yet to fully detail. “If he was actually deported and it wasn’t justifiable, I think that the mycolog- ical community would be pretty pissed overall and even outraged,” Hacking wrote. “Because nature doesn’t acknowl- edge any borders.” This story is part of the Arizona Watchdog Project, a yearlong reporting effort led by New Times and supported by the Trace Foundation, in partnership with Deep South Today. SHROOM & GLOOM from p 15 (Hernan Castro) Andrew Bartolic, master Brewer at Catalina Brewing Company. (Stephen Lemons)
