Florida 'race war' planner sentenced to six months

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida man accused of training members of a white supremacist group for a "race war" at a heavily fortified compound near Orlando and Walt Disney World was sentenced on Monday to six months in jail, according to court records. Marcus Faella, 41, was convicted earlier this year on two counts of paramilitary training. Authorities in central Florida called him the ringleader of a group they broke up in 2012, saying at the time it intended to kill Jews, immigrants and other minorities. He was a member of the American Front, prosecutors said, describing the group as a nationwide, military-style, skinhead organization modeled on Britain's whites-only National Front. At his sentencing, Faella was given credit for 61 days he had already served in jail, court records show. He also will serve two years of community control, the Orlando Sentinel reported. A confidential informant infiltrated the neo-Nazi organization, leading to his arrest in 2012 at a fortified compound on his isolated property in St. Cloud, Florida. It was located 11 miles from the Disney theme parks. According to an arrest affidavit, Faella had been "planning and preparing the AF for what he believes to be an inevitable race war" and had stated "his intent ... to kill Jews, immigrants and other minorities." Ten others were arrested and the compound shuttered after the informant came to believe his life was in danger, the arrest affidavit said. Prosecutors have since dropped most of the charges. Following his conviction, Faella's attorney said he would seek to have the conviction overturned, the Orlando Sentinel reported. (Editing by Letitia Stein and Eric Walsh)