MIAMI
A reputed street gang leader was sentenced to more than six years in prison
after posting an Internet video threatening police with guns and taunting them
to arrest him.
Rudy Villanueva, 31, was sentenced Wednesday. He denied that he was a
co-founder of the "Bird Road Boys" and insisted that he was only kidding around
with friends when the video was made late last year. It was posted Jan. 3 on
YouTube and immediately got the attention of Miami police, who took Villanueva
up on his offer to "come get some whenever you're ready."
Police found five weapons at the apartment where the video was recorded,
along with two 30-round clips and 780 rounds of ammunition.
Villanueva pleaded guilty in February to being a felon in possession of
firearms. The AK-47 assault rifle and shotgun he brandished in the video were
owned by 22-year-old Anthony Logan, who pleaded guilty to giving Villanueva the
guns and got a sentence of just over a year.
"We's out here, we fighting a cold war," Villanueva said on the video. "Metro
Dade Gang Unit, here I am baby."
Villanueva testified it was all a misunderstanding and that he never sought
to threaten the police or anyone else.
But U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, noting that Villanueva had 15 prior
arrests including a felony conviction for battery, said a defense of goofing off
wasn't going to cut it for a grown man.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press