(Note the near silence of the national press on this case. SR)
Miltant anti-Castro group denies knowing exile
Associated Press
San Bernardino, Calif. - A militant group that has advocated the overthrow of Fidel Castro does not know a Cuban exile who was arrested after authorities found more than 1,300 guns and explosives inside his home.
Robert Ferro, 61, told federal investigators that the weapons hidden in his home were being stored for Alpha 66, a Florida-based paramilitary group that for decades has plotted the overthrow of Fidel Castro.
"We don't have records of Robert Ferro; we know nothing of that person," said Mario Estevez, press secretary of Alpha 66 in Miami. "We have 50,000 members, maybe more, and most of our members are in Cuba. Robert Ferro is not a member of our organization."
Ferro, a Cuban immigrant, faces a federal weapons charge. On Thursday a U.S. District judge in Riverside denied his request for bail. Ferro faces a 10-year prison sentence if convicted.
His attorney, Wayne Rozenberg, said he wasn't surprised to hear that Alpha 66 had denied any connection to his client, since the paramilitary group operates in a clandestine manner.
"I wouldn't expect anything different from them," Rozenberg said. "It'd be surprising if they admitted his membership."
Ferro has said since the early 1990s that he was an Alpha 66 member. He had previously been accused of running a paramilitary camp on a Pomona chicken ranch to train Mexican nationals to overthrow Castro. Authorities found 5 pounds of C-4 explosive at the ranch, and he was convicted of possessing illegal explosives in 1992 and sentenced to two years in prison.
Ferro was arrested on April 14 after state and federal law enforcement authorities raided his Upland home.
The search was part of an investigation of a La Verne man accused of shooting his wife and a Glendora police officer. The alleged gunman, Frank Fidel Beltran, 36, was arrested late last month while living at a Rancho Cucamonga home owned by Ferro.
Investigators believe Ferro may have supplied guns to Beltran, described by law enforcement authorities as a member of a Pomona street gang.
"He (Ferro) might be trying to cover what he was doing with the guns," said Alpha 66 leader Ernesto Diaz. "How did he pay for these guns? How did he collect this many guns without anyone knowing? We don't know."
Ferro is scheduled to be arraigned May 10 in Riverside.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14396438.htm
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