Man Given 6 Years for Threatening Local Activist : Courts: The judge calls the victim, a North Hollywood mother of seven, a hero. But the intimidation of her continues.

Calling the victim a “true hero,” a judge sentenced a gang member Friday to the maximum of six years in state prison for threatening a North Hollywood mother of seven who has taken a lonely stand against drug dealers and gangs.

Maximilliano Guerrero, 20, was convicted of making a terrorist threat against Viviana Guerra last year when he simulated a gun with his hand and said: “We’re going to get you tonight.”

But the soft-spoken Guerra, who has received television offers for her life story, recounted for Van Nuys Superior Court Judge John Fisher on Friday the continuing intimidation to which she has been subjected.

“Since he’s been in here, I’ve had my car ripped up,” Guerra said. “They totally destroyed it and said, ‘Mrs. Guerra, this is what happens for putting one of us away.’

“He’s the defendant and I’m being completely destroyed.”

Guerrero made no statement before sentencing.

“The gang thinks it can get away with it, but it needs to be told it can’t,” said Fisher as he gave Guerrero the maximum sentence--three years for making the threat and another three years for being affiliated with an organized street gang.

“I think there’s no question here (that) the victim is a true hero,” Fisher said.

Guerra, unlike most residents of her Tiara Street neighborhood less than one block from the North Hollywood police station, reports criminal activity to authorities and has testified several times against gang members. Her assistance has led to the convictions of several gang members, including Guerrero, authorities said.

For her afforts, she has been vilified in spray paint in such terms as “snitch” and “bitch of the street.” Gang members have also broken her windows and torn up her garden.

In Guerrero’s trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Franco A. Baratta used a book compiled by police documenting more than 50 acts of vandalism and violence against Guerra and the apartment building she manages.

Guerra said Friday that she is constantly followed by young gang members, one of whom allegedly followed her to a supermarket on Father’s Day and smashed out every window of her car.

Wearing a blue County Jail uniform with his hands cuffed behind his back, Guerrero wore a slight smile, which Baratta called a “smirk,” throughout the proceeding.

“He may think this is some kind of a joke, he may think this is something easily passed by on the court because all he did was make a threat on a person,” Baratta said, arguing for a heavy sentence.

Guerrero has been in jail since last year. He would be eligible for parole in 2 1/2 years at the earliest, Baratta said.

Defense attorney Daniel Blum urged Fisher to avoid “the temptation to punish this defendant for what the gang has done.” He asked for a sentence only for Guerrero’s “diminutive” crime of pointing his finger at Guerra.

Police also called Guerra a hero and a role model for her constant vigilance against gangs.

“It’s very refreshing to see someone come forward knowing that the gang members are going to fall on her,” said Officer Gene Ferone, who patrols North Hollywood with the Police Department’s anti-gang unit called Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums. “She’s worked hard, she’s taken a lot,” Ferone said.

Despite reports by Guerra and police that gang activity has decreased in just the past few weeks, one person was slain and another wounded in gunfire earlier this week in her neighborhood.

Police said that increased patrols and word of Guerrero’s conviction have helped dampen gang activity.

While publicity has generated interest among producers of movies and television shows who want to tell Guerra’s story, she has become hesitant to discuss her lonely battle.

Following the sentencing, Guerra was escorted from the courtroom by two police officers to an interview where she was extremely reluctant to comment on Guerrero’s prison term.

Referring to the gunfire and violence that normally accompany Friday nights in her neighborhood, Guerra said, “I’m just thinking about tonight.”