Friday, July 14, 2000 | 10 a.m.
RENO, Nev. - All five self-avowed white supremacists accused of an attempted firebombing at a Jewish temple pleaded guilty to bomb-related charges the day before they were to go to trial for the hate crime.
Four of the skinheads who schemed to burn down the Reno synagogue last November now face up to 40 years in prison while the fifth faces as much as 35 years.
"There are five evil people that will be taken out of the community for a very long time," said Irv Rubin, international chairman of the Jewish Defense League based in Los Angeles.
"We hope the judge deals with them in a very serious way," he said during a news conference at the temple Thursday.
The five young men from Nevada and California were accused of committing a hate crime by throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Temple Emanu-El Jewish Synagogue Nov. 30.
A plastic liter bottle filled with cement shattered a window, but the gasoline bomb that followed fell to the ground and burned only the sidewalk.
Federal prosecutors said the group singled out the temple because of its religious affiliation and that the speedy resolution of the case was a sign of how serious the government takes such cases.
"Federal authorities will continue to deal harshly with individuals who violate civil rights laws by attacking houses of worship in Nevada," said U.S. Attorney Kathryn Landreth, based in Las Vegas.
"Such hate crimes have no place in our state," she said Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden in Reno said the convictions "serve notice that this type of hatred will not be tolerated in this community."
Sentencing is set for Oct. 30.
Carl DeAmicis, 25, Christopher Hampton, 22, Scott Hudson 23, and Daniel McIntosh, 19, face up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to a series of federal charges, including conspiracy against the rights of citizens.
Joshua Kudlacek, 18, faces the lesser prison sentence because of his limited role in the attack at the temple last Nov. 30.
Jury selection had been scheduled Thursday and testimony to begin Friday in the trial. But the five entered the pleas in U.S. District Court late Wednesday.
"The fact they pleaded guilty is a closure for all who live in Reno, but it doesn't eliminate our problem throughout the United States," said Rabbi Avraham Keller of the Temple Emanu-El.
"I hope and pray a message will come from Reno that the United States government and American people mean business so these youngsters who find themselves on this side will reconsider," he said.
A grand jury indictment said the defendants were "self-avowed 'skinheads' who advocated white supremacy and the oppression of black, Jewish and other minority persons."
Most of them had swastikas or other Nazi tattoos visible during their previous court appearances.
Rubin said one of the men mouthed a threat to him in the courtroom on Wednesday.
"This was not done on a lark or because some guys drank too much beer. These are dedicated neo-Nazis. They planned and schemed to attack this temple for a long, long time," Rubin said.
"We want to thank the ATF and the FBI and local law enforcement for cracking the case in the speed they did. ... I would have preferred to have a trial so the community of Reno could see real live Nazis up close and personal."
Kudlacek pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the rights of citizens, damage to religious property and bombing property in and affecting interstate commerce.
The other four pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the rights of citizens, damage to religious property and using fire or explosives to commit a felony.
Hampton and Kudlacek are from Reno. Hudson is from Reno and Esparto, Calif. Police described DeAmicis and McIntosh as drifters who moved between Reno, Sacramento and Auburn, Calif.
The Jewish Defense League planned to go ahead Friday with plans to burn Nazi and Confederate flags on the steps of the federal courthouse where the trial had been scheduled to begin in Reno.
Rubin said it was planned as a protest of racism and violence against Jews across the country that made 1999 "the year of hatred." He said the Jewish Defense League is urging Jews to arm themselves and learn martial arts to defend themselves against such attacks.
Keller said his congregation was not involved with the league's protest planned Friday.
"I don't believe you will find many members of the Jewish community participating in this. This is solely the JDL," he said.
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