Mark Basseley Youssef, formerly known as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is an
Egyptian-born Coptic Christian, a U.S. resident who is a writer, producer and
promoter of Innocence of Muslims, an anti-Islamic video that is perceived to
denigrate Islam's prophet, Muhammad. On 2 July 2012, a "Sam Bacile", who was
later identified as Nakoula, posted English-language promotional trailers
for Innocence of Muslims on YouTube. The videos were later dubbed into Arabic and
posted on the internet in September 2012. Demonstrations and violent
protests against the video broke out on September 11 in Egypt and spread to
other Arab and Muslim nations and some western countries. The protests led to
hundreds of injuries and more than 50 deaths.
On 27 September 2012, U.S. federal authorities stated that Nakoula had been
arrested in Los Angeles and charged violating terms of his probation.
Prosecutors stated that some of the violations included making false
statements regarding his role in the film and his use of the alias "Sam
Bacile". On 7 November 2012, Nakoula pled guilty
to four of the charges against him and was sentenced to one year in prison and
four years of supervised release. Early life and past criminal convictions
Nakoula was born in Egypt, and speaks an Egyptian dialect of Arabic. In a
September 2012 interview with Voice of America's Arabic language station, Radio
Sawa, he claimed he was a graduate of the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University
and a researcher of Islamic thought. At some point, he emigrated to Southern
California where he operated gas stations in Hawaiian Gardens,
California. and resided in Cerritos, in Los Angeles County, California Nakoula
attended a number of Coptic churches in the area, including St. George Coptic
Orthodox Church in Bellflower, but was not a regular member.
According to the Associated Press, "Nakoula struggled with a series of
financial problems". In 1996, a lien for $194,000 was filed against Nakoula's gas
station for unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest dating from 1989-92. A $106,000
lien was filed against him in 1997. He filed for bankruptcy protection in 2000,
owing several banks a total of $166,500, but later failing to make payments under
the bankruptcy plan. A $191,000 tax lien was filed against him in 2006.
The Daily Beast reported that Nakoula was arrested by the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department in 1997 after being pulled over and found to be in
possession of ephedrine, hydroiodic acid and $45,000 in cash. Nakoula was charged
with intent to manufacture methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty and
was sentenced in 1997 to one year in Los Angeles County Jail and three years
probation. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney, he violated
probation in 2002 and was re-sentenced to another year in county jail.
In 2010, Nakoula pleaded no contest to federal charges of bank fraud in
California. Nakoula had opened bank accounts using fake names and stolen
Social Security numbers, including one belonging to a 6-year-old child, and
deposited checks from those accounts to withdraw at ATMs. The prosecutor
described the scheme as check kiting: "You try to get the money out of the
bank before the bank realizes they are drawn from a fraudulent account. There
basically is no money." Nakoula’s June 2010 sentencing transcript shows that
after being arrested, he testified against an alleged ring leader of the
fraud scheme, in exchange for a lighter sentence. He was sentenced to 21 months
in federal prison, followed by five years probation, and ordered to pay
$794,701 in restitution. He was sent to prison, then to a halfway house, and was
released from custody in June 2011. A few weeks after his release, Nakoula
began working on Innocence of Muslims. Conditions of Nakoula's probation
include not using aliases and not using the internet without prior approval from
his probation officer. Innocence of Muslims
Nakoula has been identified as a key figure behind Innocence of Muslims, an
anti-Islamic video posted on YouTube that disparages Islam's prophet
Muhammad, and that has been blamed for sparking demonstrations and riots in the
Middle East, North Africa, and other regions. After protests against
Innocence of Muslims began on 11 September 2012, a man who identified
himself as "Sam Bacile", the YouTube poster of the videos, called the
Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal. He claimed he had produced a
movie titled Innocence of Muslims, which was being promoted on YouTube. He
falsely claimed the movie had been funded by $5 million collected from 100
Jewish donors, and that he himself was an Israeli Jew.
By 13 September, Nakoula had been linked to the movie and the persona Sam Bacile,
by the Associated Press and U.S. federal authorities. The Associated Press
reported that the cellphone number that "Bacile" used for an interview matched
Nakoula's address, and among Nakoula's 13 previously known aliases were names
which were similar to Sam Bacile. Nakoula denied being Bacile, but federal
law enforcement officials identified Nakoula as the key filmmaker. Parts of
the video appear to have been recorded at Nakoula's home. According to
authorities, Nakoula claimed he wrote the script while in prison. He said he
was a producer and that the money for it came from his wife's family in Egypt.
= Arrest and imprisonment= Following the violent reactions to the
video, Nakoula and his family went into hiding, and the Cerritos home was listed
for sale. His attorney has said he has received threats to his safety. On 15
September 2012, federal authorities took Nakoula in for an interview about
possible probation violations related to the film's distribution on the internet.
On 27 September 2012, U.S. federal authorities arrested Nakoula in Los
Angeles charging eight counts of probation violation. Prosecutors alleged
that some of the violations included making false statements regarding his
role in the film and his use of the alias "Sam Bacile". None of the charges
relate to his use of the internet. Following a hearing before a judge,
Nakoula was ordered to jail without bail, with the judge citing probation
violations including lying to probation officials, "danger to the community" and
"lack of trust in the defendant". On 7 November, he pleaded guilty to four of
the charges against him in an apparent plea bargain. He was subsequently
sentenced to a year in federal prison and four years of supervised release.
On 28 November 2012, an Egyptian court, prior to the ouster of the Muslim
Brotherhood-dominated government of Mohamed al-Morsi, sentenced Nakoula,
along with several other Coptic Christians, and anti-Islam preacher
Terry Jones, all to death, in absentia, for defaming Islam; all of these
individuals, however, live outside Egypt. A Pakistani railways minister
privately offered a $100,000 bounty for the death of Nakoula.
In August 2013, Nakoula was released from prison to serve his remaining
sentence in a halfway house, and then to be on probation for the next four years.
On 26 September 2013, he was released from the halfway house to the custody of
Pastor Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park,
California. References
External links 18 June 2009 indictment on five counts
of fraud, according to wired.com; accessed 23 July 2014.