Man Gets 5 Years for Illegal Ammo Stash
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A Cuban exile who claimed that he stashed more than 1,500 guns and other weapons in his home as part of a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro was sentenced Monday to more than five years in federal prison.
Robert Ferro, 64, of Upland, pleaded guilty to a single count of weapons possession earlier this year. He allegedly claimed that he was storing the weapons with the knowledge of Alpha 66, a Florida-based paramilitary group that for decades has plotted to overthrow the Cuban leader.
A spokesman for Alpha 66 has denied that Ferro was a member of that group.
Police who raided Ferro's home in April 2006 discovered 35 machine guns, 130 silencers, a live hand grenade, a rocket launcher and 89,000 rounds of ammunition concealed in false walls, dummy bookshelves and hidden rooms.
Ferro, a retired Army Special Forces officer, was prohibited from owning the weapons because of a prior conviction for possession of explosives on a Pomona chicken ranch. Federal authorities alleged that Ferro was running a training camp for Mexican nationals to overthrow Castro when they found the five pounds of C-4 explosives.
Ferro's current attorneys had asked for a sentence of less than two years because of Ferro's diabetes and a heart condition. In a filing with the judge, they said that Ferro would likely die within several years because of his poor health.
They also argued that Ferro was a gun collector and that at least 30 of the guns in the cache were "clearly antiques."
A phone message for his attorney, Christopher D. Johnson, was not immediately returned Monday.
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August 27, 2007 - 9:35 p.m. EDT
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