• 18-year-old Michael Alfinez from Palm Beach, Florida, was arrested and charged with exploiting his 85-year-old senile grandmother, Maria Huertas, who he videotaped after dressing her up as a gangster. Alfinez was convicted and sentenced to serve 18 months in a juvenile facility on October 29, 2008. He pleaded guilty to charges of elderly abuse and shooting a gun. Alfinez will also undergo a psychological evaluation to detect possible anger management problems.BBC: 'Gangsta gran' video man jailed (October 29, 2008) PalmBeachPost: Teen sentenced to 18 months (October 29, 2008)

• Fast Facts

  1. Will serve three years on probation upon releasePalmBeachPost: Teen sentenced to 18 months (October 29, 2008)
  2. Huertas said she was ashamed of the videoPalmBeachPost: Teen sentenced to 18 months (October 29, 2008)
  3. Alfinez was inspired by Gangstas and Thugs videoPalmBeachPost: Teen sentenced to 18 months (October 29, 2008)
  4. Pleaded guilty to criminal mischiefPalmBeachPost: Teen sentenced to 18 months (October 29, 2008)
  5. Filmed himself performing acts of vandalismPalmBeachPost: Teen sentenced to 18 months (October 29, 2008)

• Elderly Abuse

  Alfinez gave his senile grandmother a semiautomatic pistol to hold as he coached her into shouting at a video camera. According to the sheriff's report, he asked her to flash money, dressed her up like a gangster and manipulated her into shouting profanities and threats, such as "This is for all the pigs" and "I'll shoot you."

  The video was found after a traffic stop in January, 2008, and also shows Alfinez firing the same gun out of a car window while driving through a neighborhood in Palm Beach with a friend.

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