Purported Head of Nazi Youth Gets Probation

The purported leader of a neo-Nazi youth gang pleaded guilty Wednesday to assault with a deadly weapon and was released from jail.

Michael Casey Martin, 18, who police believe was the leader of the Reich Skins youth gang, will be sentenced to three years’ probation after a plea bargain with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, said Richard L. Brand, his attorney. Sentencing is scheduled for April 13.

Martin had been in jail since his arrest Oct. 23 in connection with what prosecutors said was a racially motivated confrontation with a Granada Hills boy and his sister. He was charged with pointing a gun at the Latino boy Oct. 7 and attempting to break into his apartment, where his sister was also staying.

The case became a cause celebre after Los Angeles police said they found in Martin’s Chatsworth home a list of youths belonging to the Reich Skins gang and literature advocating white supremacy.

The district attorney’s office charged Martin with three counts of violating the state Criminal Syndicalism Act, which prohibits the use or advocacy of unlawful, violent acts to bring about political change. Prosecutors dropped those charges Nov. 25 after a review indicated they were unconstitutional in Martin’s case.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Myron L. Jenkins declined to comment Wednesday on the disposition of the case.

Martin entered his plea before San Fernando Superior Court Judge Dana S. Henry. Under the plea bargain, a second count of attempted residential burglary will be dismissed, Brand said.

Probation Condition

One of the conditions of probation is that Martin not associate with any members of the Reich Skins, Brand said.

“The first thing he is going to do is finish his last week of high school,” Brand said. “He had one week to go when he was arrested.”

Brand said prosecutors offered Martin a negotiated settlement earlier this year but that he declined because he was afraid a felony conviction would spoil his plans of joining the military service. If Martin successfully completes probation, the judge could reduce the assault count to a misdemeanor, Brand said.

Police said they found a copy of Adolf Hitler’s manifesto, “Mein Kampf,” and the book, “Auschwitz: the True Story,” in Martin’s room when they arrested him. The latter book argues that the Holocaust never took place and that Auschwitz was the site of a farming community instead of deadly gas chambers.

The Reich Skins, detectives said, are a faction of the Skinhead youth movement, identified by its members’ shaved heads, tattoos, black boots and leather jackets. The group originated in England more than a decade ago, but now is an international movement driven by neo-Nazi philosophy and racism, authorities said.