WHITE SUPREMACIST GETS LIFE NO PAROLE FOR MAN ON MISSION TO SHOOT JEWS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

As victims and their families told of the horror and heartbreak he inflicted, white supremacist Buford O. Furrow Jr. was sentenced Monday to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Smirking while apologizing for wounding five people at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and then killing postal worker Joseph Ileto, Furrow's expressions of remorse fell on deaf ears.

``I want to try, although it is impossible, to convey my deep sorrow,'' said Furrow, 39, reading a prepared statement inside a packed federal courtroom. ``I think about what happened every day and I will grieve for it every day for the rest of my life.''

Chatsworth resident Mindy Finkelstein, 18, one of four young people Furrow shot during the Aug. 10, 1999, rampage, told the judge she's ``been to hell and back'' because of the physical and emotional trauma she suffered.

Outside court later, she said she can't accept Furrow's apology.

``When I walked in the courtroom, I recognized him immediately,'' she said outside the federal courthouse downtown. ``I broke down and started crying because it was the most terrifying experience of my life. I'll never forgive or forget him.''

Granada Hills resident Gary Zidell, whose 7-year-old son, James, was also shot, said Furrow got off easy.

``He deserves death by a firing squad,'' Zidell said. ``I'm not happy my tax dollars will be paying for him to be lodged in federal prison for the rest of his life.''

U.S. District Judge Nora M. Manella sentenced Furrow to two consecutive life sentences and an additional 110 years in prison that will run consecutive to the life sentences. He was also ordered to pay $690,294 in restitution.

The federal system does not allow parole, and Furrow signed documents that specifically call for him to spend the rest of his life in federal prison without parole, release or appeal.

``Your actions were a reminder that bigotry is alive,'' Manella said. ``If you've sent a message, it is that even the most violent crimes can strengthen a community.''

At the sentencing, Furrow blamed his mental illness, saying he wished he had been kept in a mental hospital where he had tried to have himself committed before the shootings.

Furrow - a native of Olympia, Wash., with a long history of involvement with anti-Semitic hate groups, including the Aryan Nations - pleaded guilty Jan. 24 to all 16 charges contained in a federal grand jury indictment.

In a plea agreement, Furrow admitted he had a premeditated ``plan to commit religiously and racially motivated murder in Los Angeles,'' U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said.

As part of his plan, Furrow put together a cache of weapons and ammunition and traveled from Washington to Los Angeles, where he scouted locations for his shooting spree before happening upon the North Valley Jewish Community Center.

Armed with a short-barreled Norinco 9mm rifle, Furrow sprayed more than 70 rounds through the center, where he wounded children Ben Kadish, Joshua Stepakoff and James Zidell, teen-ager Mindy Finkelstein and receptionist Isabell Shalometh in an incident that shocked the nation.

After the shooting rampage, Furrow carjacked a vehicle, drove several miles to Chatsworth, then killed postal carrier Joseph Santos Ileto, a Filipino-American, on his postal route. Furrow fired a 9mm handgun nine times, hitting Ileto with all nine shots.

``Furrow continued to shoot at Mr. Ileto, even as the victim tried to get away,'' Mrozek said.

Ileto's brother, Ismael Ileto, said his family accepts Furrow's apology but it cannot heal the pain he has caused.

``It was hard to see that smirk on his face again,'' Ileto said, referring to the highly publicized photo of Furrow smiling after he surrendered to the FBI in Las Vegas. At that time, Furrow told investigators he was on a mission to send a ``wake-up call for Americans to kill Jews.''

``It gives the impression that he is not sorry for what he has done,'' Ileto said. ``I'm glad he's put away now and won't be able to harm any other families.''

At his sentencing, Furrow insisted he harbors no hatred for his victims because of their race or religion.

``I'm sorry for how I traumatized your lives,'' he told the sobbing families gathered in the courtroom. ``I would give anything for this not to have happened.''

Finkelstein, who was a 16-year-old camp counselor at the center, told the judge she was sustained by public sympathy and the interest of celebrities who visited her at first, and finished her last year of high school. But after that, she said, she tried to start college, lasted a week and returned home with psychiatric problems.

``Buford Furrow tried to kill me and he failed,'' she said. ``But in a way he succeeded.''

``When I was admitted to the psychiatric ward, I found myself sympathizing with the defendant. I thought I was as sick in the head as he was. But I realized I could never kill someone because of my problems.''

The center receptionist, Shalometh, speaking outside the courthouse, said she's glad the ordeal is over.

``It was like reliving Aug. 10, 1999, all over again, seeing that smirk on his face,'' she said. ``I still jump when I hear a loud noise.''

David Finkelstein, Mindy's father, said he's glad the madness is over.

``I've gone the full cycle on this,'' Finkelstein said. ``When the prosecutors asked me about how I felt about the death penalty, I said I'll shoot him myself.''

When Furrow agreed to a plea bargain, Finkelstein said he was satisfied that Furrow would spend the rest of his life in prison.

``But seeing him in there with that same smirk on his face brought back those same feelings,'' he said.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Snider Social Action Institute, said only God will know whether Furrow is truly sorry for his actions.

``The most important thing is that Furrow will not be the poster boy for the extremists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists,'' Cooper said.

U.S. Attorney Alejandro N. Mayorkas said Furrow deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.

``Through his crimes of hate, Buford Furrow Jr. targeted innocent individuals solely because of their ethnic or religious backgrounds,'' Mayorkas said. ``By doing so, he committed the most heinous of offenses, violating the rights of those individuals and attacking our basic principles of freedom and equality.''

James V. DeSarno, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said Furrow will never be released.

Furrow has been held without bond at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles since his arrest.

He will be transferred to the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which will determine where he will serve his sentence.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Joseph Ileto's mother, Lillian, above, center, is surrounded by family, and, below, Mindy Finkelstein's parents offer support after the sentencing of Buford Furrow Jr.

(2 -- color) - Mindy Finkelstein

Shooting victim

(3 -- color) Joseph Ileto's sister, Raquel, is embraced by Terri Ching, her brother's co-worker.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(4 -- color) FURROW