Enrique Marquez, Jr.
SAN BERNARDINO – On the same day mass shooting suspects were buried, a 24-year-old connected to one shooter was indicted with multiple charges.
Enrique Marquez, Jr. was indicted on Thursday, charged with conspiracy in 2011 and 2012 to commit acts of terrorism.
Coincidentally, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, the two who shot 14 people to death and wounded 21 others in a mass shooting on December 2, were buried in an undisclosed location, according to local officials.
County coroner officials were not authorized to disclose where the two were buried.
Marquez, meanwhile, now faces charges that he and Farook had plans to attack Riverside Community College with pipe bombs and firearms, according to a 36-page indictment in which the suspect provided most of the details to federal authorities.
Dubbed “criminal conduct” that “deeply affected San Bernardino County, Southern California and the entire United States when the guns purchased by Marquez were used to kill 14 innocent people and wound many others,” according to a federal official.
Marquez has reportedly divulged that he purchased guns used by Farook and Malik in the recent attack. He was charged with unlawful purchase of two assault rifles, according to indictments.
The shooting occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. About four hours later, the two suspects were killed in a shootout with law enforcement.
Marquez, who appeared in U.S. District Court in neighboring Riverside, is not suspected to be connected to planning that attack. According to a release, he did not enter a plea in front of Judge Sheri Pym.
A bail hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Marquez, who met Farook as a 14-year-old in 2005, faces up to 15 years in federal prison on terrorism charges, plus 10 years each on two other charges.
Officials said Marquez checked into the psychiatric ward at UCLA Harbor Medical Center in the Los Angeles County city of Torrance, spending four days before released to the FBI.
In addition to planning an attack at RCC, Marquez told authorities that he and Farook had also planned an afternoon rush hour attack on the eastbound lanes of the 91 freeway.
Those attacks were not carried out, Marquez told authorities, after arrests were made in connection with another terrorist plot. Authorities said the pair got “cold feet.”
He was also charged with defrauding immigration officials “by entering into a sham marriage with a member of Farook’s family.” Last year, Marquez married Mariya Chernykh, who is related to Farook by marriage.
Complaint against Enrique Marquez, Jr.
