Release of ‘Innocence of Muslims’ filmmaker is ‘uneventful’
One of the filmmakers behind the highly controversial anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” was released from federal custody Thursday.
Mark Basseley Youssef, 56, was released from a halfway house sometime Thursday morning, said Ed Ross of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Ross said Youssef’s release was “uneventful” and that “he has four years of supervision” after Thursday’s release.
Youssef, who previously changed his name from Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, was sentenced in November to a year behind bars after admitting to violating terms of his release after a 2010 conviction on bank and credit card fraud.
Ross said that in late May, Youssef was transferred to a halfway house.
The movie “Innocence of Muslims” portrays the prophet Muhammad as a womanizer and child molester and sparked rioting across the globe after it was uploaded onto YouTube.
Authorities said that Youssef’s actions surrounding the film’s production violated the terms of his probation.
While some believe Youssef’s notoriety may have prompted federal officials to be harsh with him, government officials maintained that he was back in custody not because of the movie, but because he had used aliases in producing the film and lied to probation officers.
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