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Nakoula Basseley Nakoula is a Director, Scriptwriter and Producer Egyptien born on 20 july 1957

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula

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Nationality Egypte
Birth 20 july 1957 (67 years)

Mark Basseley Youssef, formerly known as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (born 1957) 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. He has past criminal convictions and a history of using aliases.

On July 2, 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 have led to hundreds of injuries and over 50 deaths.

On September 27, 2012, U.S. federal authorities stated Nakoula was 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 November 7, 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.

Biography

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 stated that he was graduate of the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University, and claimed to be a researcher of Islamic thought. At some point in his life, Nakoula immigrated 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 he is 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 to 1992. 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 (supervised release), 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 later, he 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.