4 Indicted in Hate Crimes, Illegal Guns : Grand jury: Alleged leader of Fourth Reich Skinheads is accused of making bombs in plot against Jews and blacks. Three others are charged with producing and transferring weapons.

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned a seven-count indictment Thursday against a 20-year-old Long Beach man, charging him with conspiracy to make and use bombs in a campaign of terror against prominent Jewish and African-American people and organizations.

The suspect, Christopher David Fisher, is accused of leading a group of young white supremacists who called themselves the Fourth Reich Skinheads. According to the indictment, Fisher and some of his cohorts built and used several bombs and were conspiring to attack the First African Methodist Episcopal Church--acts of violence that the skinheads allegedly hoped would trigger a race war.

In a separate indictment, the same grand jury charged three Los Angeles County residents--Christopher James Berwick, 49, of Acton and a North Hills couple, Christian Gilbert Tony Nadal, 35, and Doris Nadal, 41--with conspiring to make and transfer illegal weapons, among other offenses. A total of 20 criminal counts were filed against the Nadals and Berwick, who allegedly worked together to produce illegal machine guns and silencers.

Reached at her home earlier this week, Doris Nadal denied the allegations against her and her husband. “We’re just normal people,” she said. “I mean, my husband just ordered some gun kits from a catalogue and we wind up on TV like we’re the world’s No. 1 criminals.”

The Nadals and Fisher were among eight people charged two weeks ago when authorities halted an 18-month undercover investigation of white supremacists in Southern California. The undercover portion of that investigation was stopped because FBI agents and federal prosecutors worried that Fisher and the Fourth Reich Skinheads were growing increasingly violent and were on the verge of launching mail bomb attacks against Orange County rabbis and synagogues.

Even as the federal grand jury in Los Angeles was returning indictments, federal agents in Seattle and San Francisco identified three more suspected white supremacists who were believed to be responsible for the July 20 bombing of an NAACP office in Tacoma, Wash. Authorities said they were investigating possible links between that bombing and attacks on offices of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in Sacramento and San Francisco.

Some of the same suspects also were planning to attack Jewish organizations, military installations and rappers Ice-T and Ice Cube, according to FBI agents.

The most serious attack, in Sacramento on Tuesday, caused $130,000 in damage. On July 8, a fire occurred outside the NAACP office in San Francisco.

All three of the latest suspects to be arrested claim membership in a Washington-based white supremacist group known as the American Front, said John J. Covert, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco office.

They also were allegedly affiliated with the Church of the Creator, a Florida-based white supremacist group. Two suspects charged in the Southern California cases were onetime members of the Church of the Creator, and an FBI informant posed as a minister of that group.

Jeremiah G. Knesal, 19, of Auburn, Wash., and Wayne P. Wooten, 19, of Tacoma were arrested Tuesday in Salinas after police caught them shoplifting. Their car was searched, and police said they discovered three metal pipe bombs, four rifles and ammunition, as well as white supremacist literature, military-style clothing, rappelling gear and wigs.

Knesal and Wooten were interviewed by FBI agents, and one of them cooperated, agents said. That led the FBI to arrest a third man, Mark F. Kowaalski, 24, who was taken into custody without incident at his home in Auburn on Wednesday. He was charged with being a felon in possession of a destructive device. Agents said a pipe bomb was found in his house.

Although the bomb attacks and plots against prominent Jews and African-Americans resemble the ones that authorities attribute to the Fourth Reich Skinheads, there was no immediate evidence that the groups were working together.

“It would be pure speculation at this time to say that they are connected,” said John L. Hoos, a spokesman for the FBI in Los Angeles. “However, at this time we are coordinating between our offices to see if there are any connections.”

Although the Nadals, Berwick and Fisher were indicted by the same grand jury, authorities do not believe that the Nadals and Berwick were part of the Fourth Reich Skinhead bombings or the alleged plot to attack the First AME Church.

As a result, Fisher faces by far the most severe prison sentence. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a mandatory life term without parole in federal prison. Christian Nadal, who was implicated in the transfer of dozens of illegal weapons, faces a possible 155 years in prison, while his wife could receive 35 years, and Berwick could be sentenced to 45 years.

Fisher’s father, Scott Fisher, declined to comment on the indictments. “We don’t care to say anything right now,” he said.

Although Fisher is the only member of the Fourth Reich Skinheads to be indicted Thursday, three counts against him include allegations that he worked with a juvenile identified only as “John Doe No. 1.” A federal affidavit filed against one of the juvenile suspects in the case makes clear that John Doe No. 1 is Carl Daniel Boese, 17, of Crestline.

Prosecutors are attempting to have Boese charged as an adult. If they succeed, he could face conspiracy and weapons charges, sources said.

No indictments were handed up Thursday against three Orange County suspects charged with illegal weapons trafficking as part of the same undercover operation. Two suspects, Geremy C. von Rineman and Jill Scarborough, have been charged with weapons violations and ordered to appear Aug. 12.

The third, Josh Daniel Lee, is accused of selling illegal weapons to an undercover FBI agent and informant, but prosecutors say that they do not have evidence that Lee harbors white supremacist views.

Although indictments had been expected against the Nadals and Fisher, friends and associates of Berwick were stunned at the news that he had been charged. As recently as Wednesday, colleagues had said they believed that Berwick would testify before the grand jury but would not be indicted.

Berwick is the only one of the four indicted suspects not under arrest, but his trailer and business were searched July 15. Copies of the search warrants indicated that agents found weapons and a silencer, as well as gun parts that allegedly could be used to convert legal firearms into machine guns.

Berwick was charged with five counts, including conspiracy, manufacturing firearms and possessing a silencer.

Christian Nadal and Fisher, both of whom are in custody, were ordered to appear for arraignment Monday. Doris Nadal was released on bond two weeks ago and Berwick has not yet surrendered or been arrested.

Times staff writer Jenifer Warren contributed to this article from San Francisco, and researcher Doug Conner contributed from Seattle.