The filmmaker alleged to be behind the anti-Islam video that sparked anti-U.S. protests the world over has been arrested and jailed for violating the terms of his probation.
“The court has a lack of trust in the defendant” because of his “lengthy pattern of deception,” which included making false statements to probation officials, Judge Suzanne H. Segal said.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula is escorted out of his home by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officers in Cerritos, California. Reuters |
The California man, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, was arrested earlier in the day and brought before a Los Angeles court over the probation violation. The U.S. District Court hearing was closed both to media and the public.
Nakoula was arrested after federal probation officials determined he violated the terms of his supervised release and filed a request to revoke it, said Thom Mrozek of the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
“I can confirm he’s in custody, scheduled to make a court appearance as we speak, in federal court in downtown LA,”Mrozek said.
Nakoula has been under investigation by probation officers who suspected that he violated violated the terms of his parole by uploading a 14-minute trailer of the film to YouTube. Although the exact nature of the court appearance is unclear, the prosecutors could ask the judge to return Nakoula to prison if he was not authorized by his parole supervisor to upload the video.
Nakoula had also been taken into custody for questioning by his probation officer earlier in the month.
In 2010, Nakoula, known under at least a dozen aliases including Sam Bacile, was found guilty of opening bank accounts using stolen identities and Social Security numbers, and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
One condition of his June 2011 release was a ban from accessing the Internet or using aliases without the permission of a probation officer.
-RT
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