Anti-Muslim Filmmaker has Criminal Past

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula identified as filmmaker behind anti-Islam film.

The man behind the incendiary film, "Innocence of Muslims," which sparked deadly protests in Egypt, Libya and Yemen this week after a 13 minute trailer of the movie was uploaded to YouTube, has a criminal past that involves bank fraud and a narcotics conviction. 

According to the Associated Press, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was originally thought to be Sam Bacile, a Coptic Christian living in southern California. Nakoula told police he was the manager of the company that produced the film, not Bacile, and that he feared for his life. In 2010, the embattled filmmaker was ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution and sentenced to 21 months in federal prison after pleading no contest to federal bank fraud charges. (The Daily Beast)