FURROW PLEADS GUILTY TO AVOID EXECUTION.

Byline: Joseph Giordono and Rick Orlov Staff Writers

White supremacist Buford O'Neal Furrow Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to avoid the death penalty in a shooting spree that left a Chatsworth postal carrier dead and five people wounded at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills nearly 18 months ago.

Co-workers of postal carrier Joseph Ileto, a Filipino-American who was gunned down by Furrow on Aug. 10, 1999, condemned Furrow, 39, as a coward.

``(He) goes after children who could not defend themselves and then he chooses to attack an unarmed and defenseless carrier. Now he is choosing the easy way out again,'' said Alfonso Ontiveros, who was Ileto's supervisor the day of the shooting and identified the body for authorities.

David Finkelstein, whose daughter was one of four youngsters shot at the community center, said Furrow's guilty plea provides legal closure for his family but leaves permanent wounds.

``I think it is a good thing that they don't have to go through a trial, and that my daughter won't have to testify,'' said Finkelstein, whose daughter, Mindy, was shot in the right thigh and shin. ``We will never get over this, but what happened today helps.''

Furrow admitted Wednesday to killing Ileto after spraying more than 70 rounds through the Granada Hills community center where he wounded three boys, a teen-age girl and a 68-year-old woman in an incident that shocked the nation.

In court Wednesday, Furrow responded, ``Guilty, your honor'' to each of the 16 counts read against him by U.S. District Judge Nora Manella. He is scheduled to be sentenced to life without possibility of parole or pardon March 26.

The native of Olympia, Wash. - who has a long history of involvement with anti-Semitic hate groups, including the Aryan Nations - was thin, cleanshaven and nearly bald - compared with the heavy, mustachioed man who surrendered to authorities in Las Vegas the day after the shootings.

U.S. Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas said Furrow's history of mental illness, including three hospitalizations for treatment of homicidal and suicidal tendencies, led prosecutors to drop pursuit of the death penalty.

The decision was made after consulting with family members of Ileto, those shot at the community center, law enforcement officials and community groups.

``The important thing is that he will never walk the streets again, he will not seek a pardon or parole and will not be able to profit from this,'' Mayorkas said.

Ileto's brother, Ismael, said the family agreed with federal officials to end the case with the plea bargain out of a need to bring closure.

``We didn't want to relive all that happened,'' he said at a U.S. courthouse news conference attended by seven members of his family, who held hands and cried as they heard the case profiled.

``Our family can now turn ourselves to concentrating on increasing awareness of hate crimes,'' said Ileto, who urged President Bush to sign the Spencer-Kennedy Hate Crime Act pending in the U.S. Senate.

For law enforcement officials, the guilty pleas sent a strong warning.

``On Aug. 10, 1999, Buford O'Neil Furrow sought to send a message to the entire nation,'' Mayorkas said. ``It was a message of hate. Today, we in law enforcement send a message back: We will not tolerate crimes of hatred or intolerance on the streets of our community.''

James DeSarno, FBI special agent in charge, called it a day of joy and sadness.

``We are pleased this unfortunate chapter of history is now closed,'' DeSarno said. ``At the same time we grieve with the family of Joseph Ileto, a young man whose life was cut short by a senseless act of hate.

``Buford Furrow thought he would make a statement, a call to arms. The only statement he made is that he is a pathetic, cowardly man.''

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, assistant dean at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which was Furrow's original target until he was deterred by security, said he hoped the life sentence for Furrow will deter others with racist views.

``I am glad he will not be able to use this trial to further his beliefs,'' Cooper said. ``When he was arrested, he used the few minutes he was in front of the cameras to spew forth that ideology. There is nothing to say he wouldn't have used a trial, especially a protracted one, to use it as a public sounding board.''

David Lehrer of the Anti-Defamation League said the plea bargain serves justice.

``He confessed to his crime, was given a life sentence and he will never be able to get out his message again,'' Lehrer said. ``This sends a message that hate crimes are no longer just thought of as adolescent pranks and that they are taken more seriously.''

After his arrest, Furrow reportedly told authorities he wanted to send a ``wake-up call to America to kill Jews.'' He said he shot Ileto because the postal carrier appeared to be either Latino or Asian.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- color) FURROW

(2 -- color) Slain postal carrier Joseph Ileto's mother, Lilian, center, and other family members listen to word of his killer's guilty plea.

(3 -- color) Alfonso Ontiveros, left, and Teri Ching of the Chatsworth post office discuss friend and co-worker Joseph Ileto, who was gunned down by Buford Furrow Jr. on Aug. 10, 1999.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

Box: TIMELINE OF TERROR

SOURCE: Daily News research