He was an Eagle Scout, president of his fraternity at La Salle University, an accounting major who worked as a bookkeeper on the side to help pay the bills. Michael Brescia grew up in a trim rancher in the city's Andorra section. His father is a battalion chief in the Fire Department. His mother was president of a local civic group. Theirs was a family right out of Leave It to Beaver, to judge from appearances.
Appearances deceive, say federal prosecutors.
A federal grand jury in Philadelphia indicted Brescia last month on charges that he helped plot seven Midwest bank robberies to finance the activities of white-separatist groups. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors consider Brescia so dangerous that they filed an emergency appeal when a federal magistrate granted him bail. A judge granted the appeal, ordering Brescia held without bail at an undisclosed location. Brian J. McMonagle, a Philadelphia lawyer who briefly represented Brescia, said the young man was not involved in the robberies and was not a white separatist.