A man purported to be a filmmaker involved with the anti-Islam video sparking violent unrest in the Middle East and North Africa was escorted by deputies from his home shortly after midnight.


L.A. County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore confirmed that Nakoula was taken to the Cerritos sheriff’s station for interviewing aimed at determining whether he violated the terms of his probation


Nakoula reportedly requested deputies step up patrols around his home Wednesday after media descended on the area.


A federal grand jury indictment in February 2009 charged Nakoula in an alleged bank fraud conspiracy.


The indictment accused him and others of fraudulently obtaining the identities and Social Security numbers of bank customers.



Nakoula pleaded no contest in 2010 and was ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution.


He was also sentenced to 21 months in federal prison, but was released early.


The terms of his parole included being barred from assuming aliases and using computers or the Internet for five years without approval from his probation officer.



Nakoula also served a year in jail after pleading guilty to possession of meth with the intent to manufacture in 1997.


The filmmaker's use of a false identity and his access to the Internet through computers could be at issue, according to experts in cyber law and the federal probation system.


Nakoula, who told the AP that he was logistics manager for the film, was under requirements to provide authorities with records of all his bank and business accounts.


Officials have said authorities were not investigating the film project itself, and that even if it was inflammatory or led to violence, simply producing it cannot be considered a crime in the United States, which has strong free speech laws.


Stan Goldman, a Loyola Law School professor, said whether Nakoula is sent back to jail over potential probation violations linked to the film, such as accessing the Internet, was a subjective decision up to an individual judge.


"Federal judges are gods in their own courtrooms, it varies so much in who they are," he said, noting such a move would be based on his conduct not on the content of the film.


International protesters have cited the 15-minute video posted on the Internet called "The Innocence of Muslims" as a catalyst for their demonstrations in countries such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt.


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