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CSUSB professor comments on guilty plea by mother of one of the attackers in the December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino
The Sun/The Press-Enterprise/Redlands Daily Facts/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
March 16, 2020
Rafia Sultana Shareef, the mother of one of the shooters in the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack, pleaded guilty Monday, March 16, to one count of destroying evidence — a map drawn by her son in preparation for the siege.
Brian Levin, a lawyer and the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said in an interview that the time lag in prosecution is likely attributable to the map evidence being discovered well after the attack.
“These investigations continue, and you always want to keep your focus close to those who had the most recent and in-depth contact,” Levin said. “What I think happened is that the investigation was open … and sometime during the course of this the evidence coalesced to the point where they had enough evidence to go to trial.”
Shareef, also known as Rafia Farook, was ordered to return to U.S. District Court in Riverside on June 15 for sentencing. She faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. But under the plea agreement, she will serve no more than 18 months. Judge Jesus G. Bernal, who accepted Shareef’s plea, could accept that sentencing recommendation or impose his own term.
Read the complete article at “Mother pleads guilty to destroying map drawn by San Bernardino terrorist.”
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