Suspected Israeli crime lord pleads guilty in LA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A suspected Israeli crime lord pleaded guilty Monday to being part of a racketeering enterprise that distributed Ecstasy and whose members killed a man for stealing a large drug shipment, a defense attorney said.

Itzhak Abergil, entered his plea in a Los Angeles federal courtroom, defense attorney Mark Werksman said. As part of a plea agreement, Werksman said Abergil will serve a 10-year sentence. Sentencing is set for May 21.

“The Israeli and US governments have their boots on his neck with these cases and if he didn’t enter into an agreement like this he faced the risk of being obliterated and getting a life sentence,” said Werksman, who added the label that his client is a crime boss is an exaggeration.

Abergil and his brother were arrested in 2008 in Israel after they were named in an indictment that alleged murder and international drug trafficking.

Prosecutors believe Abergil was one of the largest importers of narcotics into the United States. They said his family worked with another drug syndicate, the Jerusalem Network, as well as a Los Angeles gang to traffic Ecstasy.

The indictment stated that the Abergil and Jerusalem organizations had previously been involved in the largest bank embezzlement scheme in Israel’s history and engaged in illegal activities in the U.S. to launder the proceeds of the scheme.

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