3 Charged in Harassment of Jewish Shop Owner : Hate crime: Indictment accuses them of violating his civil rights in a three-year telephone campaign.

Three young South Bay men were arraigned Thursday on federal charges of violating the civil rights of a Jewish pawn shop owner who authorities said was harassed for three years in an unrelenting telephone “hate crime” campaign.

The three men--ranging in age from 21 to 24--were named Wednesday in a six-count indictment in connection with phone calls made to David Vogel, 66, at his South Bay store, National City Pawnbrokers & Jewelers.

The three were each indicted on two conspiracy counts--one charging a violation of Vogel’s civil rights and another alleging a scheme to defraud AT&T; by making long-distance calls with unauthorized access codes.

The remaining counts alleged that Michael D. Danko, 24, of Chula Vista, obtained the access codes and either used them himself or passed them on for use by Brett A. Pankauski, 23, of Chula Vista, and Jeffrey A. Myrick, 21, of San Diego.

After the arraignment, U.S. Magistrate Irma E. Gonzalez ordered Danko and Myrick held without bail pending a hearing next Thursday. She ordered bail set at $10,000 for Pankauski.

At a press conference Thursday, federal prosecutors said they did not believe the three men belonged to any anti-Semitic group. U.S. Atty. William Braniff said, “Hate crimes like this have no place in America.”

The indictment charges that the three men violated Vogel’s civil rights by interfering with his ability to work without being harassed.

Vogel, a naturalized American citizen whose family fled Nazi Germany in 1938, said Thursday that he began receiving phone calls in the fall of 1987.

“The first time they called me, they said, ‘Do you have any Jews for sale, any niggers for sale?’ Then it continued every day--every day for three years,” Vogel said. “It was hell.”

In one call, on May, 23, 1990, Myrick repeatedly referred to himself as Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler and said Vogel had to suffer because he was Jewish, the indictment said.

The next day, Myrick called Vogel and threatened him with bodily harm, the indictment said.

On June 12, Danko and Pankauski called, “referred to Nazi Germany and stated that they exterminate Jews,” the indictment said.

On July 10, Danko called, referred to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and Dachau, and asked Vogel why he had not been shot there, the indictment said.

On Aug. 1, Myrick threatened to kill Vogel, the indictment said.

Vogel said he had “no idea” why he received the calls.

Though prosecutors said most of the calls were local, the indictment alleges that some calls were placed to or routed through an AT&T; switching center in Missouri.

The indictment also charges Danko with unauthorized possession last month of 30 AT&T; access codes.

If convicted, Danko faces up to 30 years in prison and a maximum $1-million fine, prosecutors said. Myrick and Pankauski could each draw up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $750,000, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also disclosed Thursday that two other young Chula Vista men--including Danko’s younger brother--had each pleaded guilty Wednesday to a sole misdemeanor count stemming from threats against Vogel.

Gary R. Danko, 21, and Robert J. Byrd, 21, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to interfere with Vogel’s right to work, a federally protected activity, Assistant U.S. Atty. S. Gay Hugo-Martinez said.

Each faces one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Sentencing is set for Nov. 27, Hugo-Martinez said.