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Anti-Muslim Filmmaker To Be Set Free in SoCal Today

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Filmmaker Mark Basseley Youssef—the man behind the controversial viral video "The Innocence of Muslims"—is due to be released today.

Youssef, 56, has been held at "a residential re-entry facility, or a halfway house, in Southern California," since May, when he was released from federal prison, according to CNN.

He was sentenced to serve one year after admitting in court in November 2012 he violated the terms of his probation. Having previously denied the allegations in court, Youssef, (who has also used the name Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and Sam Bacile) initially told the judge he did not use a number of aliases or provide false information to the officer who was overseeing his probation.

CNN elaborates:

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[Youssef's] incarceration wasn't directly related to the movie he produced, though it did shine a strong spotlight on him in more ways than one. Yet his actions producing "The Innocence of Muslims" did violate the terms of his probation for a 2010 bank fraud violation, authorities found.

Following his U.S. sentencing, Youssef was sentenced to death by an Egyptian court as a symbolic shot at the filmmaker, whose laughable, low-budget flick ended up sparking a wave of protests in the middle East with its anti-Islamic themes.

The Egyptian-born Coptic Christian has gone on record saying he has no regrets about making his film.

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