[NYTr] Calif: Anti-Cuban Arms Dealer Ferro Gets 5 Yrs, $75, 00 Fine for Arsenal

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Arms-Stockpiler Robert Ferro Gets 5-Year Sentence for Illegal Arsenal

[This paragraph from the Daily Bulletin story is telling:

"The prison sentence handed down by Judge Virginia A. Phillips was not
only substantially stiffer than the 21 months sought by Ferro's
attorneys, but also was harsher than what federal prosecutors had asked
for."

It's also substantially harsher treatment than that given to the Miami
gun-runners and terrorists against Cuba in recent months. But, this is
a California case. Ferro wasn't fortunate enough to be tried in Miami.
As it was, the charges against him were reduced after his initial
arrest, but he had the bad luck to meet up with an independent member of
the judiciary, and may not be as well-connected with Federal
prosecutors -- or with the various terrorist anti-Cuban groups -- as
Posada, Mitat, and their Florida terrorist cronies. -NY Transfer]


AP via The Washington Post - Aug 27, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/27/AR2007082701541.html

Man Gets 5 Years for Illegal Ammo Stash

The Associated Press

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.

                                 ***

Daily Bulletin - Aug 27, 2007
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_6737066


Ferro gets five years

Upland man sentenced to prison for weapons stockpile

By Rod Leveque
Staff Writer

RIVERSIDE - An Upland man who illegally stored a massive weapons
arsenal inside his upscale suburban home was sentenced to more than
five years in federal prison Monday.

Robert Ferro, who claimed he amassed many of the guns in preparation
for the overthrow of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, was also fined
$75,000 as part of his punishment.

The prison sentence handed down by Judge Virginia A. Phillips was not
only substantially stiffer than the 21 months sought by Ferro's
attorneys, but also was harsher than what federal prosecutors had asked
for.

The judge showed little mercy for Ferro during the hearing, saying she
was especially bothered Ferro kept such a large cache of deadly weapons
in a residential neighborhood.

"This is a serious offense," the judge said.

Police found more than 1,500 guns during an April 2006 search of
Ferro's home on Tapia Way. The arsenal included machine guns, short
barreled rifles, a live hand grenade, 130 silencers, a rocket launcher
tube and about 89,000 rounds of ammunition.

Ferro is not allowed to have any guns because of a 1992 felony
conviction for possession of explosives on a Pomona chicken ranch. In
that case, prosecutors alleged he was using the ranch in preparation
for an invasion of Cuba.

Ferro pleaded guilty in June to a single count of illegal weapons
possession. As a result of his plea, he faced a maximum sentence of
nearly seven years in prison.

Ferro, 63, spoke briefly during his sentencing hearing in federal court
in Riverside Monday morning.

He told the judge many of the guns were collectibles he gathered as an
investment over the past 43 years.

The others he intended to use against Castro, and never posed any
danger to anyone else, he said.

"I never hurt anyone in the U.S.," he said. "I love this country."
Moments later he added, "I want to go to Cuba and get rid of Castro."

Ferro said he believed he had the government's blessing to have the
guns because authorities seized them in 1991 while investigating the
explosives case, and then gave them back.

"Maybe it was wrong," he said. "I don't know. They didn't charge me in
1991, so I thought it was OK to keep them until we went to Cuba."

Phillips was not persuaded by Ferro's explanations.

"None of them are convincing and all of them reflect a lack of respect
for the law," the judge said.

Phillips told attorneys Monday that the similarities between Ferro's
prior case and his current one indicate he is a danger to the community
and a likely candidate to re-offend.

Ferro's attorneys had asked the judge for leniency, claiming a sentence
of four or five years in prison amounted to a death sentence for Ferro.

Ferro has diabetes and a bad heart, and will not get the medical
attention he needs while he's locked up, they claimed.

"He will die in prison," defense attorney Rhonda A. Anderson told the
judge Monday. "Statistically it's clear he's at the tail end of his
life."

The judge was unmoved.

Ferro's attorneys said they will consider appealing the sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennise Willett declined to comment.