SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - Marijuana dealer Jesse James
Hollywood faces a possible death sentence after his conviction for
kidnapping and murdering a 15-year-old boy over an escalating drug
debt, a crime that inspired the 2007 movie "Alpha Dog."

A Santa Barbara Superior Court jury on Wednesday also found
Hollywood guilty of the special circumstance allegation of being a
principal in a murder committed in the course of a kidnapping and
being involved in a crime in which an assault weapon or machine gun
was used, making him eligible for the death penalty.

The jury deliberated for about four days. Hollywood, 29, stared
straight ahead as the verdict was read.

"I can't believe they found him guilty of that murder," his
father, Jack Hollywood, said outside the courtroom.

The victim's parents said they were relieved but declined to
comment further because of a gag order issued in the case.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys also declined to speak.

The penalty phase of the case was scheduled to begin Monday.

Hollywood was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and
eventual killing of Nicholas Markowitz in August 2000 because the
teen's half brother owed a drug debt.

Nicholas was taken to Santa Barbara and held for several days
before being shot and buried in a shallow grave. Four others have
been convicted in connection with the crime.

Hollywood took the stand in his own defense, a move legal
experts say is rare and potentially risky. He testified that he and
two friends grabbed Markowitz off a street in the San Fernando
Valley area of Los Angeles but did not order the teen's murder.

"I just feel terrible about everything that happened,"
Hollywood testified. "I feel terrible for the Markowitz family. I
feel terrible that anyone would think I could do something like
that."

He said the teen was taken in an escalating dispute between him
and the boy's older half-brother, Ben Markowitz. Hollywood, an
admitted marijuana dealer, said Ben Markowitz owed him a $2,500
drug debt - more than twice the amount prosecutors have cited.

Hollywood said he was afraid after Ben Markowitz left
threatening messages, poisoned his dog and broke a window at his
home, only hours before Nicholas was abducted. Hollywood called the
taking of Nicholas irrational and not well-thought out.

Hollywood said Ryan Hoyt, the gunman who was convicted and
sentenced to death, acted on his own because of concern about Ben
Markowitz finding out about the abduction. Hollywood also said the
gun used to kill Nicholas was once his but that he gave it to Hoyt
months before the murder.

Prosecutors did not call Hoyt as a witness - the one person who
could definitely say if Hollywood ordered the slaying. Also left
out of Hollywood's trial were Jesse Rugge and William Skidmore, two
others convicted in the case.

Prosecutors contend Hollywood decided to get rid of Nicholas
after learning from an attorney that he could face life in prison
for kidnapping. They also believe the murder was a way for Hoyt to
settle his own drug debt with Hollywood.

The crime was the inspiration for "Alpha Dog," which starred
Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake, Sharon Stone and Emile Hirsch, who
played "Johnny Truelove," a character based on Hollywood.

Hollywood fled after the slaying and later testified he had
lived in Colorado, the Mojave Desert and various parts of Canada
before he was captured in Brazil.