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'Innocence Of Muslims' Filmmaker Could Go To Prison For Using The Internet
The filmmaker and felon behind the "Innocence of Muslims" could be heading back to prison.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, wasn't supposed to be using for the internet—unless he asked permission—for five years after he served time in prison for bank fraud. But since his film the "Innocence of Muslims" was posted to YouTube (and later translated into Arabic), federal probation officials are investigating whether he might have actually violated the conditions of his parole.
Nakoula, a resident of Cerritos and a Coptic Christian, has a lengthy criminal record. He most recently served time in prison after opening credit cards with fake identities and drawing tens of thousands of dollars from those accounts, according to the Los Angeles Times. He was convicted in 2010 and ordered to pay $790,000 in restitution, but he was released from prison early in June 2011.
In 1997, he was convicted of possessing the ingredients to manufacture meth, including ephedrine and hydriodic acid. Authorities found $45,000 in cash in a paper bag when they pulled him over. In testimony, one deputy claimed that Nakoula was transporting pills from a storage facility in Downey to Lake Elsinore.
Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the administrative office of the U.S. Courts in Washington, D.C., told City News Service that the federal probation department is reviewing Nakoula's activities to figure out if he violated his probation. If so, he could end up back in prison.
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