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LOS ANGELES — The plea bargain that will imprison white supremacist Buford Furrow Jr. but keep him off death row outraged some who knew the victims of his 1999 shooting rampage but brought satisfaction or relief to others Wednesday. 

Furrow, 39, pleaded guilty to killing Joseph Ileto, a Filipino-American mail carrier, and other crimes involving his Aug. 10, 1999, assault on the North Valley Jewish Community Center in which three boys, a teen-age girl and a woman were wounded. 

In exchange for his plea, Furrow won’t face the death penalty originally sought by prosecutors but he agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison. He will be sentenced in March. 

“It’s fine with me that he’s forced to spend the rest of his life behind bars,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance. “Sometimes the death sentence is a deterrent, but the death sentence is over relatively quickly.  

If a person knows that for 30 to 40 years he will never be a part of society, that can be a greater deterrent to others.” 

Not everyone believed Furrow’s life should be saved and were disgusted that taxpayers’ dollars will support him while in prison. 

“It’s absolutely outrageous,” said Sonny Castellano, who worked with Ileto at a post office in Chatsworth.  

“He tried to injure children and that alone shows his life is worthless. It seems this was a coward’s way out.” 

Prosecutors said there was extensive evidence showing Furrow’s previous mental problems, which was a major factor in reaching the plea bargain with defense attorneys. U.S. Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas said the victims’ families as well as other law enforcement agencies were advised of the deal. 

“We have the full support of the Ileto family and the victims of the JCC center...,” Mayorkas said.  

“We have decided not to seek the death penalty based upon information obtained after our initial decision that revealed a long history of his (Furrow’s) mental illness.” 

Some people who supported the decision, sidestepped the touchy subject.  

Ileto’s brother, Ismael, declined to comment on how family members felt about the death penalty. Nina Giladi, executive director of the Jewish center, also declined. 

“We trust the judicial system will work in an effective and fair manner,” Giladi said. 

Support for the death penalty appears to be waning in California.  

A Los Angeles Times poll conducted in November 2000 found that 58 percent of those surveyed supported the death penalty, down from 78 percent in 1990. 

But some people who knew the victims said they would rather have closure than endure a lengthy legal process. 

“It wasn’t the resolution I would have liked personally,” said Ramona Burke, postmaster of the Chatsworth post office.  

“We are relieved the situation is now behind us and know Furrow will be punished for his actions.” 

Handcuffed and shackled, Furrow was thin and clean-shaven – a far cry from the pudgy, mustachioed man who was arrested last year.  

He answered softly, “Guilty, your honor,” 16 times. 

Furrow sprayed the North Valley Jewish Community Center in the San Fernando Valley with more than 70 bullets, wounding three boys, a teen-age girl and a woman.  

Hours later, he killed Filipino-American Joseph Ileto, shooting him nine times as the man was delivering mail. 

Furrow surrendered in Las Vegas the next day. 

Furrow, of Olympia, Wash., had a long history of involvement with anti-Semitic groups operating in the Pacific Northwest, among them the Aryan Nations. 

Authorities said he told them he shot up the community center to send a “wake-up call to America to kill Jews.” Prosecutors said he shot Ileto because the man appeared to him to be Hispanic or Asian. 

Prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty. But U.S. Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas said prosecutors changed their mind after the defense submitted extensive evidence of Furrow’s previous mental problems. 

Mayorkas said the material showed Furrow sought psychiatric help for 10 years before the crime and complained of being plagued by homicidal and suicidal thoughts. Furrow’s lawyers had planned to make his mental condition an issue at his trial. 

In a statement, Furrow’s lawyers said: “The crimes committed by our client ... were tragic in their consequence to many, many people. ... Together with the government’s lawyers, we believe this is the appropriate resolution to this case.” 

Mayorkas said Furrow’s attempt to spread a message of hate had been thwarted. “The only statement he made is he is a pathetic cowardly man. What he did was remind us that we are all one,” the U.S. attorney said. 

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, said he is satisfied that Furrow will go to prison for life. 

“In one respect Buford Furrow was right when he said he was trying to register his crime as a ‘wake-up call to America,”’ Hier said.  

“What these haters are doing in this country and all over the world is showing how much damage a single individual bent on destroying society can accomplish.” 

The Ileto family on Wednesday occupied a back row of the courtroom, listening quietly to the plea, which they had agreed to in advance. 

“We are just relieved that this is closed, that we don’t have to go to court to hear any testimony,” said Ileto’s brother, Ismael.