Woman Sentenced in Skinhead Probe

An Anaheim woman arrested as part of a federal investigation into the criminal activities of white supremacist skinheads was sentenced Tuesday to one year’s probation for violating federal weapons laws.

U.S. District Judge Linda H. McLaughlin in Santa Ana ordered Jill Marie Scarborough, 22, who pleaded guilty last December to possessing an unregistered, sawed-off shotgun, to live in a Garden Grove halfway house for six months and to submit to frequent drug testing and treatment.

Federal agents arrested Scarborough and her former boyfriend, Geremy C. Von Rineman, and charged them with possession of the 12-gauge shotgun. Two undercover FBI informants had befriended the couple and later paid $400 for the shotgun, according to a federal complaint.

Federal authorities said Von Rineman was a member of the Florida-based Church of the Creator, a white supremacist group, and that Scarborough shared his views.

Scarborough and Von Rineman were among eight people arrested last July after an 18-month undercover investigation of white supremacists in Southern California.

In a letter sent to McLaughlin and filed with court documents, Scarborough said she endured a “lousy childhood” with a mother who was “in and out of mental health care facilities.”

“I fell into a way of thinking sponsored by (Von Rineman), which I am not very proud about, and came to possess the shotgun while not using good judgment,” Scarborough wrote.

Scarborough’s court-appointed defense attorney and the government prosecutor both recommended one-year probation for Scarborough.

In court documents, the U.S. attorney’s office said probation was warranted because Scarborough was only 20 when the crime occurred, had no criminal history and the gun was not loaded when it was presented to the FBI informants.