Anti-Islam filmmaker faces 3-year prison term

The infamous filmmaker behind the anti-Islamic video faces up to three years in federal prison after being arrested Thursday for alleged probation violations.
Probation officials have recommended a 24-month term for Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, prosecutors said in court, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Coptic Egyptian-American, whose film posted on the YouTube led to bloody attacks on American diplomatic missions and incurred global condemnation, particularly by Muslims, faces a maximum of three years in prison if found to have violated his parole, a report in the paper said.
Nakoula was arrested Thursday and ordered back to jail during a hearing, which took place amid high security, with the public only allowed to watch through a video feed in a separate courthouse blocks away.
Until his arrest Thursday, Nakoula and his family had been in hiding, and his attorney said he had received threats to his safety.
The Times reported that Magistrate Judge Suzanne H. Segal ordered Nakoula detained, citing a “lengthy pattern of deception” by the man, adding that he poses “some danger to the community.” Nakoula could face up to three years behind bars, it said.
Released under supervision from a 2010 conviction for bank fraud, Nakoula faces eight charges of probation violation including making false statements to authorities about the film. When probation officials questioned him about the video, Nakoula allegedly claimed his role was limited to writing the script, and denied ever using the name “Sam Bacile” in connection to the film, said Assistant U.S. Attorny Robert Dugdale.
Dugdale said there is evidence Nakoula’s role in making the video was “much more expansive” than penning the script. Prosecutors said Nakoula could face new criminal charges for lying to federal officials.
Dugdale said none of the violations Nakoula is accused of relate to use of the Internet, even though his probation terms specify he was not permitted to possess or use a device with access to the Internet without permission from his supervisor.
According to the Times, Nakoula’s attorney, Steven Seiden, asked that his client be released on $10,000 bond, saying that he was not a flight risk. He also said his client would be in danger at the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center because of what he said was a large Muslim population at the lockup.
However, prosecutors told Segal they have been assured that the Metropolitan Detention Center has protocols to house “inmates of notoriety,” and contended that Nakoula would possibly be safer in custody.
They said Nakoula was a man who “simply cannot be trusted” and whose deceptions had caused “real harm.”
Using several aliases, Nakoula was able to deceive people into working on the film without realizing they were dealing with a convicted felon, Dugdale told the judge. He noted that Nakoula had applied for a passport in one name, obtained a driver’s license under another and used a third name — which he spelled various ways -– while working on the film. Another mystery, Dugdale pointed out, was Nakoula’s access to money, citing witnesses who received checks from the man for their work on the film.