September 23, 2005
A member of the Jewish Defense League in the United States has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a plot to bomb a mosque and a Lebanese-American congressman's office. During the hearing, Earl Krugel, 62, apologized and said he had changed his convictions. But District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew described Krugel's actions as "promoting hatred in the most vile way" and sentenced him to the maximum sentence permitted under Krugel's plea agreement. Lew said Krugel had failed a polygraph test five times during the investigation. "You are not that changed a person. You have more to give," the judge said.
Krugel pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of worshippers at Culver City's King Fahd Mosque and one count of carrying an explosive device in connection with a conspiracy to impede or injure Republican congressman Darrell Issa. Krugel, a dental assistant, and the late JDL leader Irv Rubin were arrested in 2001. Hours before they were to appear in court in 2002, Rubin slashed his neck with a razor blade and tumbled 18 feet over a railing at a federal detention center. He died nine days later.
