Attorneys Meet With Believed “Innocence of Muslims” Filmmaker in Cerritos

"You are holding his children hostage. Please leave," says attorney

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies escorted attorneys into a Cerritos home believed to be the residence of the man behind a movie that may have sparked violence in the Middle East and North Africa.

Deputies on Friday were outside the Cerritos home, which according to property records is owned by Nakoula Besseley Nakoula.

Nakoula is suspected of being behind the anti-Islam film "The Innocence of the Muslims."

Outside the home, one of his attorneys addressed the media (pictured, below), saying "You are holding his children hostage. Please leave."

Early reports suggested that a group of Libyans were provoked to attack the embassy by the anti-Islamic film made in Southern California.

But U.S. officials are also probing the possibility that it was a planned attack, timed to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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 at Wells Fargo and withdrawing $860 from bank branches in Cerritos, Artesia and Norwalk.

Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons confirmed that Nakoula served a year in jail after pleading guilty to possession of meth with the intent to manufacture in 1997.

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