The former leader of Your Black Muslim Bakery was convicted today of three counts of first-degree murder for ordering the slayings of Oakland newspaper editor Chauncey Bailey and two other men, capping a high-profile trial that was closely watched by journalists and First Amendment advocates.

More than a year and a half after Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey was gunned down while walking to work, an Alameda County grand jury indicted the leader of the now-defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery on Wednesday on charges that he ordered the journalist killed.

The now defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery is best described as a “splinter group or faction” of the Nation of Islam that became its own sect.

The two sisters who triggered sex crime charges against Oakland bakery owner Yusuf Bey in 2002 had tried in the early 1980s to get help from social workers, but fear kept them from speaking forcefully about the abuse and the social workers didn’t pursue the matter, an investigation by the Chauncey Bailey Project has revealed.

Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV and two fellow members of the bakery will have to wait until April to see if prosecutors have enough evidence against them to warrant a jury trial.

Yusuf Bey IV and three other men affiliated with the now-defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery _ charged more than two years ago with vandalizing two West Oakland liquor stores _ will be held over for trial in that case.

By the wives’ sworn account, the late Yusuf Bey directed many of the 100 women whom he considered his wives to make fraudulent applications for government aid programs intended to assist poor families, then diverted the benefits to himself.

A fifth suspect with ties to Oakland’s Your Black Muslim Bakery was arrested today in connection with the May 17 kidnapping and torture of two women.

According to court records, the assault rifle used in both killings was used in an attack in December. In that attack, police said, someone used the AK-47 to shoot up a car owned by a man who once had dated the wife of Yusuf Bey IV, who became CEO of the bakery after Antar Bey was killed.

Your Black Muslim Bakery was founded by Yusuf Bey, who for many years was highly regarded for trying to better the lives of young African-American men. His business ventures over time also included a security company, dry-cleaning stores and other entities. But stories of violence have dogged his family for years.

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

U.S. bankruptcy Judge Edward Jellen said the bakery’s management problems are getting worse, not better, and that Chapter 7 liquidation was the best way for the bakery to repay the IRS, its mortgage company and other creditors.

Oakland Police Assistant Chief Howard Jordan said the suspect, Devaughndre Broussard, a 19-year-old associate of the group that runs the Oakland-based Your Black Muslim Bakery, has confessed to fatally shooting the 57-year-old Oakland Post editor.

Police are testing guns and other evidence recovered from raids that resulted in the arrest of seven members of an Oakland Black Muslim splinter group that are believed to have been involved in the murder of a journalist and two others.

Oakland, Calif. (AP) -- They weren't your average thugs.

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 1 - The authorities charged two men on Thursday with felony hate crimes, vandalism and false imprisonment in connection with attacks last week on two liquor stores owned by Muslims of Arab descent.