RIVERSIDE >> Victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack received what likely will be their only measure of justice to come from the courts Thursday when Enrique Marquez Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiring to support terrorists and lying on documents signed during the purchase the rifles used to kill 14 people and wound 22 others.
In a federal courtroom in Riverside, filled on one side by about two dozen victims and family members, U.S. District Court Judge Jesus G. Bernal accepted Marquez’s guilty plea and scheduled his sentencing for Aug. 21.
Marquez, 25, of Riverside, faces up to 25 years in prison – a punishment that one attack victim’s father decried as insufficient.
Gregory Clayborn, whose 27-year-old daughter Sierra, of Moreno Valley, was killed in the shooting at the Inland Regional Center, was allowed to address Bernal – over the objections of Marquez’s defense attorney, who said Marquez had not been charged in the attack – before Marquez made his plea.
“If he had not provided those weapons, we might not be here this day,” Clayborn said. “So many people’s lives will never be the same. This man participated in one of the most heinous crimes in the history of the state and country. My daughter, she didn’t deserve this.
“Your honor, this is ridiculous.”
Clayborn said the U.S. Attorney’s Office should have pushed for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for Marquez.
Reasons for sentence
Later, outside of court and after Clayborn had met with prosecutors, he said he understood better why they didn’t pursue a life sentence. U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said outside court that prosecutors would have had to charge Marquez with murder, and they had “no evidence” that Marquez knew about the plot in advance.
“We take the evidence, and the evidence leads to the charges,” Decker said. “I certainly understand why he and other victims may believe that 25 years is unsufficient for the pain they have suffered.”
Clayborn was adamant that Marquez lied about not knowing of the attack.
There will be no trial for the actual shooters. Syed Rizwan Farook and wife Tashfeen Malik, of Redlands, were killed in a gunbattle with police a few hours after the attack on Farook’s own co-workers during a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center.
If Marquez had been convicted of all charges filed against him, he could have spent up to 50 years in prison. The plea agreement, announced earlier this week, provided a lesser sentence for Marquez accepting responsibility for the crimes. The federal sentencing guidelines take into account the seriousness of the offenses and the defendant’s criminal record.
Marquez now faces 15 years for the charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and 10 years for making false statements in connection with the acquisition of a firearm. He also could be fined up to $250,000 for each of the counts.
As part of the agreement, charges of marriage fraud and misuse of visas and permits will be dropped at sentencing. Federal authorities say Marquez pretended to marry Farook’s Russian sister-in-law in order to help her gain legal status in the United States after she overstayed her visa.
That sister-in-law, Mariya Chernykh; Farook’s brother, Syed Raheel Farook; and Raheel’s wife, Tatiana Farook, have all pleaded guilty to immigration fraud charges this year and await sentencing.
‘Foundation for the attack’
Marquez admitted in the agreement that he bought rifles in 2011 and 2012 and explosive powder in 2012 for Syed Rizwan Farook and taught him how to build improvised explosive devices. Those weapons, Marquez told authorities, were to be used in attacks on motorists on the 91 Freeway and at Riverside City College.
“That planning was the foundation for the attack on Dec. 2, 2015,” Decker said.
Farook and Marquez got spooked in late 2012 and scuttled the plots when FBI agents arrested a group of Inland men who planned to join al-Qaida and attack American service personnel overseas, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court.
Marquez also admitted violating the law against the “straw purchase” of firearms when he signed federal firearms documents affirming that the weapons were for his own use.
Marquez in shackles
In court Thursday, Marquez was dressed in a white jail jumpsuit. His hands and feet were shackled.
When the court clerk swore him in, she asked Marquez to raise his right hand “to the best of your ability.”
Marquez answered, “Yes, your honor,” to most questions about whether he understood the charges and agreed with them in a voice that grew softer as the one-hour hearing in the Riverside courtroom continued.
A half-dozen U.S. marshals stood inside the courtroom with several Homeland Security Investigations officers stationed outside. When the hearing was over, marshals led Marquez away. His head was down, and there was a look of anguish on his face.
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