Marquez, who lived next door to shooter Syed Rizwan Farook for many years in Riverside, was charged Thursday with conspiracy to provide support to terrorists, lying about the purchase of a weapon and immigration fraud.
Advertisement
U.S. authorities arrested and charged Thursday a man who allegedly bought the assault rifles used by Syed Farook and his wife to kill 14 people in the San Bernardino mass shooting earlier this month, justice officials said.
In this courtroom sketch, Enrique Marquez appears in federal court in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. An arraignment was scheduled for January 6, when he is expected to enter a plea.
Federal agents are also looking into his marriage to Mariya Chernykh, a Russian immigrant whose sister is married to Farook’s older brother.
Marquez was charged Thursday with three counts connected to the terror attack carried out by Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik.
“Mr. Marquez conspired with Mr. Farook to commit vicious attacks”, U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement.
The FBI was previously taking a closer look at whether the transfer was legal. USA prosecutors are considering filing firearms charges against Marquez, with state gun charges also possible, one of the government sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity. His family later moves to Southern California, settling in Riverside.
Marquez said he had nothing to do with the pipe bombs that authorities found at Farook’s home after the December 2 attack, or the ones that apparently failed to go off at the site of the shooting, the officials said. The plot targeted the cafeteria and library. He said the men specifically planned to toss pipe bombs into crowds of students in the cafeteria from the second floor, a spot that would allow them to get out for another phase of the attack. The pair chose a stretch of State Route 91 in Riverside where there were no exits to “increase the number of targets”.
According to the complaint, Marquez called 911 on December 3.
“Marquez admitted that the attacks were created to maximize the number of casualties that could be inflicted”, reads the complaint.
Prior to the shooting, investigators say Farook attended a company holiday party at the Inland Regional Center.
Marquez is also accused of entering into a fake marriage in November 2014 with a woman who was the sister of the wife of Farook’s brother.
Records show that Marquez married Mariya Chernykh at a ceremony at the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco, though the mosque’s facility manager denied it occurred there.
“The plan was for Farook to throw pipe bombs on to the freeway, which they believed would disable vehicles and stop traffic”, authorities said in their release. He had worked at Wal-Mart since May but has since been fired, spokesman Brian Nick said. His brother-in-law, Raheel Farook, is a Navy veteran who served from 2003 to 2007 and earned the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, among other awards.
But he did talk with Farook about a possible plot in 2012, which the official said was ultimately abandoned.
“When he woke up, he just started laughing”, Lopez said.
While the conspiracy charge doesn’t specifically accuse Marquez of having any advanced knowledge of the San Bernardino plot, FBI investigators said he and Farook did acquire the firearms with the intent of carrying out some type of violent attack – which they allegedly began discussing in 2011.
Advertisement
Marquez checked himself into a hospital the same day and was referred to the psychiatric ward, where he was later placed on an involuntary hold.
