PERSON: Nakoula Nakoula

Self-employed

Filmmaker

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. A Pakistani minister privately offered a $100,000 bounty for the death of Nakoula.

On September 27, 2012, U.S. federal authorities stated Nakoula was arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly 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.

-- Wikipedia