Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who wrote an anti-Muslim film that led to riots in parts of the Middle East, is due to be released from federal custody Thursday in a separate probation case, The Associated Press reported.
Nakoula, 56, has been held in a halfway house in Southern California since May, said Ed Ross, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Nakoula was sentenced in November to a year in federal prison for using false names in violation of a probation order in a bank fraud case.
Riots broke out in parts of the Middle East in September 2012 after news of the film “Innocence of Muslims” spread across the globe. The film was initially blamed for the deadly terror attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound on Sept. 11 in Benghazi, Libya.
In an August interview, the filmmaker urged the White House to be more careful in its assessments in the future.
“Before you do anything, please give yourself time to think about it,” he told the Obama administration in an interview with CNN.
Nakoula said he was stunned when he first heard his film was triggering riots across the Muslim world, but he added that he does not blame President Obama for initially placing the blame on him.
“We need to make [a separation] between the president and the administration,” he said, adding that he likes the president personally.
The filmmaker declined to comment, however, on whether he held a grudge against former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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