WWW.USDOJ.GOV

CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A California man pled guilty today to conspiring to violate the civil rights of several individuals by carrying out a campaign of intimidation, the Justice Department announced.

Alexander James Curtis, 25, of Lemon Grove, Calif., admitted that from 1997 to 1999 he conspired to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate persons because of their race, color or national origin. In a plea agreement entered in federal court in San Diego, Curtis said that he and others threatened and intimidated a number of civic leaders, including U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid, San Diego Anti-Defamation League Director Morris Casuto, and Clara Harris, the former director of Heartland Human Relations and Fair Housing Association, which assists ethnic and racial minorities in obtaining housing.

Among other things, Curtis admitted that he left threatening messages at or near the victims' homes and offices, including Nazi swastikas, snake skins, an inactive hand grenade, and slogans advocating violence against racial minorities. Curtis also admitted that he and others conspired to damage the Congregation Tifereth Israel in San Carlos, Calif. and Temple Adat Shalom in San Diego, by spray-painting swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans on the properties.

According to the indictment returned in November 2000, Curtis and his associates were self-avowed "white supremacists" who advocated the supremacy of white people over people of other races, and who urged separation of the races and oppression of Black, Jewish, Hispanic and other persons.

U.S. Attorney Gregory A. Vega reiterated his office's commitment to prosecute to the full extent of the law perpetrators of such crimes. "Threats of violence against people because of who they are and how they worship is unacceptable in our community," he said.

The investigation was conducted by a joint task force of members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and San Diego Police Department. The District Attorney's Office, the La Mesa Police Department and the San Diego County Sheriff's Office also assisted the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego and by the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.

Curtis pleaded guilty to three felony counts of a conspiracy to violate civil rights. The maximum statutory punishment is 10 years in custody and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each felony count [Title 18, United States Code, Section 241 - Conspiracy to Violate Civil Rights.]

###

01-114