Bey IV enters no contest plea in vandalism case

Yusuf Bey IV, left wearing sun glasses, and Kahlil Raheem, right in brown coat, enter courtroom Jan. 12, 2006, with body guards to plead not guilty to vandalizing two Oakland liquor stores. (Dan Rosenstrauch/ContraCostaTimes)

Yusuf Bey IV, left wearing sun glasses, and Kahlil Raheem, right in brown coat, enter courtroom Jan. 12, 2006, with body guards to plead not guilty to vandalizing two Oakland liquor stores. (Dan Rosenstrauch/ContraCostaTimes)

By Chris Metinko, The Chauncey  Bailey Project

The head of Your Black Muslim Bakery and an associate pleaded no contest to charges Wednesday stemming from vandalism incidents at two West Oakland liquor stores in 2005.

 Yusef Bey IV entered his no contest plea to eight felony charges, including vandalism, false imprisonment, civil rights violations and hate crimes in an Oakland courtroom. A co-defendant, Dyamen Williams, 21, pleaded no contest to one count of vandalism.

Bey IV, 22, is expected to receive a three-year state prison term for the eight felony charges. Under terms of a deal struck with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, Williams is expected to receive one year in Alameda County jail when he’s sentenced Oct. 17.

Bey IV’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2009, but he will not be sentenced until other criminal matters against him are complete. Bey IV and three bakery associates are charged with kidnapping and torturing two women in Oakland in May of last year.

Originally, eight adult defendants, plus one juvenile, were charged with multiple counts of felony vandalism, false imprisonment and hate crimes in connection with the vandalism incidents at the New York Market at 3446 Market St. and the San Pablo Liquor Store at 2363 San Pablo Ave.

Two defendants, Tamon Halfin and another bakery associate, James Watts, pleaded no contest to felony vandalism in 2006 and were sentenced to five years’ probation. Charges were dropped against two other defendants because of a lack of evidence.

On Monday, Kahlil Raheem, 27, and Donald Cunningham, 73, pleaded no contest to one count of vandalism each. Cunningham faces 16 months in jail on the vandalism charge when he is sentenced next month, but Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman indicated Cunningham will most likely be placed on probation instead.

Raheem’s deal is dependent on his testimony against Bey IV and three other bakery members in the kidnapping and torture case, said deputy district attorney Matt Wendt. According to information from an earlier preliminary hearing, prosecutors in that case want Raheem to testify about how he picked up Bey IV near a house in which police say the bakery leader and three other members tortured a woman and held another in May 2007 in hopes of stealing money. If Raheem follows through during a preliminary hearing next week and later, during a jury trial, he will escape prison time for the liquor store vandalism.

Reach Chris Metinko at 510-763-5418 or cmetinko@bayareanewsgroup.com.