By Melissa Pinion-Whitt Staff Writer Inland Valley Daily-Bulletin
UPLAND - A weapons cache police found during their search for a La Verne man wanted in two shootings was meant to support an invasion of Cuba, federal agents said Tuesday.
Returning Tuesday to a house they searched last week, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI raided the home of Robert Ferro, 61, on Wednesday morning and brought out hundreds of firearms in addition to the estimated 900 seized last week.
Agents first searched Ferro's home in their quest to find the guns used by Frank Fidel Beltran, 36.
Beltran had been a fugitive since February when police say he shot Glendora Reserve Officer Casey O'Gorman, 51, in the hand. Sheriff's deputies said Beltran also shot his estranged 29-year-old wife on March 3 as she was driving on Lone Hill Avenue near Arrow Highway in San Dimas.
The woman was shot in the neck, back and arm. She and her daughter remain in protective custody.
According to documents filed by the ATF in support of the search warrants, Ferro claims to be a member of Alpha 66, a militant group that wants to overthrow Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Police evacuated seven homes Wednesday after federal agents found more weapons and explosives at Ferro's home.
Ferro has been charged with possessing two unregistered machine guns in a federal complaint filed Tuesday. The guns are a .308-caliber H&K machine gun and a .45-caliber Thompson machine gun, according to the complaint.
Ferro appeared in U.S. District Court in Riverside on Wednesday wearing camouflage pants, but his detention hearing was delayed because his family was in Upland for the police raid.
Ferro's attorney, Wayne Rozenberg, requested the hearing be delayed so Ferro's family could explain why Ferro should not be detained.
ATF officials did not release an estimate of the number of weapons seized Wednesday or what type of explosives were found because they were still tallying the weapons by evening.
Ferro told the ATF in an interview that his group has 100 members in California and Miami who are ready and trained for their mission.
"He said Fidel Castro is old and wouldn't have the mental capacity to direct an army," according to the ATF. "Ferro said that he doesn't know why they don't let us do this."
Staff Writer Amy Frye contributed to this story.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_3729553
This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm