Aug 31, 2007

Additional charges filed against bakery suspect

By Paul T. Rosynsky / MediaNews

New criminal charges were filed Thursday against one of three Your Black Muslim Bakery members accused of kidnapping and torturing two women last May.

The new charges, filed shortly before the bakery members appeared in court, accuse Tamon Halfin of 20 criminal charges related to the illegal purchase of two houses in Oakland.

Halfin is also accused of about a dozen felony counts related to the kidnapping and torture of the women in May.

Court documents show that Halfin allegedly used a fake name to secure four loans used to purchase homes at 7601 Lockwood St. and 9217 Sunnyside St. in Oakland.

Using the name Jason Peterson, Halfin secured more than $1 million from BNC Mortgage and Long Beach Mortgage between October 2005 and December 2005, the documents state.

In both cases, Halfin used a fake driver's license and in one instance forged a Bank of America bank statement and stole the identity and signature of another person to secure the loan.

Halfin did not enter a plea in the real estate fraud scheme or the kidnapping torture case. Instead, his court appointed attorney, Michael Berger asked for more time to review the case before his client enters a plea.

The real estate scheme Halfin is accused of is similar to one bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV has been charged with for the purchase of a house at 2514 61st Ave.

In that case, Bey IV allegedly stole an identity, used a fake driver's license and secured loans for the purchase of a house in Oakland.

Bey IV pleaded not guilty to those charges and not guilty to charges levied against him for the kidnapping and torture of two women in May.

Bey IV, Halfin and Bey IV's half brother Joshua Bey, 21, are accused of using a fake police cruiser to capture two women they thought had money.

They then drove the women to a house in East Oakland and tortured one until a police officer on routine patrol saw the fake car and investigated.

Bey IV also has become a key figure in the confession of Devaughndre Broussard, a bakery handyman accused of killing Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey.

Broussard's attorney LaRue Grim said Bey IV told his client to take the fall for the slaying in order to save the bakery.

Oakland police placed Bey IV in the same interview room with Broussard before Broussard told police he killed Bailey because of a story the journalist was working on about the bakery's financial problems and a family feud within the Bey family.

Bey IV's attorney, Ted Washington, said Thursday his client had nothing to do with the killing. But Washington said Bey told Broussard to "tell the truth." Washington also questioned police interview tactics, saying they "just don't smell right."

All three members are due back in court Sept. 18. Broussard is due back in court Sept. 20.