Buyer of guns used in California massacre to be in court

RIVERSIDE, Calif. >> The man who authorities say bought the assault rifles his friend used in the San Bernardino massacre was set for his second court appearance on a terrorism-related charge Monday.

Enrique Marquez, 24, is expected to enter a plea to three charges in federal court in Riverside, about 10 miles from the site of the Dec. 2 attack. A judge also will determine whether to hold Marquez on bond pending trial.

Prosecutors are asking that Marquez remain held for the safety of the community and because they fear he would flee if released.

Marquez is charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists for abandoned plots in 2011 and 2012.

He’s also charged with illegally buying the rifles the shooters used in the attack and visa fraud stemming from his marriage to a Russian woman that prosecutors say was a sham. He faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted of all the charges.

Marquez’s court-appointed attorney has declined to comment. Marquez’s mother has called him a good person who was nothing more than friends with the man who carried out the massacre with his wife.

The terrorism-related charge stems from plans prosecutors say Marquez had with Syed Farook to use pipe bombs and guns to kill innocent people at the college they attended and on those stuck in rush-hour traffic on a California freeway, according to court documents. The plots fizzled and they never acted.

In his initial court appearance on Thursday, Marquez looked disheveled. His hair flopped over his forehead, there was stubble on his face, and the pockets of his black pants were turned out. He appeared calm and showed no emotion as he gave one-word answers to the judge.

On Dec. 2, Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, used guns authorities say Marquez bought years ago to kill 14 people at an annual training of Farook’s health department co-workers.

Farook and Malik were later killed in a shootout with law enforcement.