Last update - 00:00 21/09/2006
Court sentences woman who drugged, robbed victims to 4 and 1/2 years
By Itim
The Haifa District Court on Thursday sentenced a woman convicted of drugging and robbing several young men in separate incidents last year to four and a half years in prison.
Ashrat Silver, 27, of Tel Aviv, was convicted of lacing the drinks of young men she met at pubs in Haifa, and then robbing them, on two separate occasions.
According to the conviction, Silver had asked the men for a ride, and upon arrival at their apartments, made them alcoholic drinks laden with heavy sedatives. In both cases, after the victims fell unconscious, she made off with their money, expensive personal belongings and credit cards.
The day after the second incident, Silver went shopping with the victim's credit card, attempting to run up a bill of over NIS 1000, the court said.
When Silver later returned to the bar, one of the victims was there, who recognized her and called the police.
Silver confessed to the crime during her investigation and trial, and expressed her deep regret. She said her actions were the result of her involvement with drugs.
During the sentencing, the prosecutor detailed the danger involved in using sedative narcotics and recommended that the judge sentence Silver to 4 and a half years in jail, to be followed by three years of probation. Silver will also be required to pay punitive damages to the victims and to pay fines to the court.
During her testimony, Silver spoke about the difficult circumstances of her childhood, including the serious abuse she said she had been subjected to by her father.
The judges wrote in their ruling that the sentence was to send a message of deterrence to dissuade future offenders from committing such crimes.
"Before us stands a defendant accused of a string of crimes and deceptions, step after step after step, all planned to perfection. She equipped herself with sedatives, and carried out crimes like something out of a Hollywood movie," they wrote in their statement.