Man found guilty of stalking Mel Gibson in LA

LOS ANGELES - A homeless man, who wrote letters to Mel Gibson claiming God had sent him to pray with the director of The Passion of the Christ, has been found guilty of stalking Gibson.

Zack Sinclair, 34, faces 16 months to three years in prison for felony stalking.

The case received widespread attention this week as Gibson turned up at a Los Angeles courthouse to face his stalker, who represented himself at trial.

A seven-man, five-woman jury deliberated less than three hours before finding Sinclair guilty of other charges that he violated a restraining order barring him from contacting Gibson.

In July of 2004, Sinclair, a transient from Idaho, began sending Gibson letters telling the actor he was sent by God to Los Angeles to pray with him and help strengthen Gibson's religious faith.

In September, Sinclair turned up at Gibson's mansion in Malibu, California, after sneaking past security guards.

He also showed up at Gibson's church, where the celebrity was attending a mass, but was escorted outside by security men.

In October, Sinclair was arrested for violating a permanent restraining order barring him from getting near the actor-director.

Gibson told jurors he was worried Sinclair might harm his wife and family.

Sinclair wrote Gibson a series of 12 letters, in which he said he had spent time in mental health facilities and been in prison for more than two years for stalking a woman.

"I realized we were probably dealing with somebody who was fairly deluded," Gibson told a packed California courtroom at Sinclair's trial on Thursday.

Sinclair, in a grey sport coat and slacks, sat passively throughout the reading of verdict.

- REUTERS