'Gangsta gran' video man jailed

The family says that the incident was a misunderstanding

A teenager in Florida who used his 85-year-old grandmother to issue threats with a gun in a "gangsta rap" video has been jailed for 18 months.

Michael Alfinez, 18, admitted to abusing the elderly and a number of firearms charges.

Alfinez is seen coaxing his grandmother Marie Huertas into flashing a gun at the camera and saying: "This is for all the pigs" and "I'll shoot you".

The Alfinez family has said that the incident was a misunderstanding.

Outtakes

A sheriff's report said Alfinez, from Lake Worth, had admitted dressing up Ms Huertas and getting her to flash a gun and money at the camera.

Ms Huertas is seen wearing a full black balaclava and is heard uttering a number of gangsta rap phrases, after repeated coaxing, that include expletives.

The Palm Beach Post newspaper said police arrested Alfinez in April after they found outtakes of the video playing on a camera in his car.

The Post said Alfinez had told deputies he knew that there was something wrong with his grandmother's memory.

The sheriff's report says when police showed Ms Huertas the video she said she was ashamed and did not use that language normally.

The Post quoted Alfinez's mother as saying: "This is my mother. This is his grandmother. Just today when he called me he said, 'Tell grandma I love her very much.' And she told me, 'Tell Mikey I love him, too.'"

Alfinez also admitted charges of shooting from a moving vehicle and firing into a building.