Last update - 01:11 14/01/2007
Rosenstein to serve 12 years in Israel in plea deal
By Roni-Singer Heruti and Yuval Yoaz
Justice Ministry officials confirmed over the weekend that the signing of a plea bargain is imminent for reputed crime boss Zeev Rosenstein, who is facing trial in Miami for drug trafficking.
According to a deal struck on Friday, Rosenstein, who topped the most wanted list of the Tel Aviv police, confessed to conspiring to bring 700,000 Ecstasy pills from Europe to the U.S. He will be looking at a 12-year sentence.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Rosenstein's lawyers and the U.S. Justice Department will ask the judge hearing Rosenstein's case to approve the deal on Tuesday.
The issue of where Rosenstein will serve his sentence is not on the table, since the extradition agreement between Israel and the U.S. mandates that an Israeli citizen convicted of a crime in the U.S. can choose to serve the sentence in Israel.
"Talks are at a very advanced stage toward a plea bargain. We cannot add details until we present the agreement in court," a Justice Ministry statement said.
Lawyers for Rosenstein have been in talks with U.S. prosecutors for about a month in an attempt to cobble together an agreement. Over the past two weeks, and especially the past few days, the talks have been stepped up, as Rosenstein's trial is slated to begin on January 22.
As reported in Haaretz, Rosenstein's lawyers first approach to the American prosecutors to explore the possibility of a plea bargain was turned down.
With the signing of the agreement, Rosenstein's lawyers no longer need worry their client would face a jury that might regard him as the biggest Israeli mafioso ever caught, and the judge would pass sentence accordingly.
Shemtov Michtavi, considered Rosenstein's business partner, who was also arrested in the U.S. on charges of drug dealing that were less serious than those Rosenstein faced, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars. However, the U.S. prosecutors, as well as the Justice Ministry and the Israel Police, had their own concerns about a jury trial, and decided instead on trying to reach an agreement.
Rosenstein was at first accused of importing millions of Ecstasy pills to the U.S. The charge has been reduced to conspiracy to import the pills, and no longer is it millions, but rather some 700,000 pills.
The prosecution sought a minimum 14-year sentence.
Rosenstein has been represented since his extradition in March by American lawyers as well as Israeli attorneys Benny Nahari, Keren Nahari and Hila Nawi, who have been working to get the sentence reduced.
Last week obstacles seemed to be piling up against a final agreement, some reportedly placed by the Justice Ministry after Rosenstein demanded that the deal include a pledge not to indict him for alleged crimes deriving from the primary charge. The Justice Ministry wants to leave the way open to indict him for bringing in a team of Columbian hit-men to take out the head of the rival Alperon family. It was finally agreed, according to Keren Nahari, that whether or not additional indictments are issued, Rosenstein's maximum sentence will not exceed 12 years.
On the night between Wednesday and Thursday Rosenstein phoned his wife Yvonne to tell her the deal had been clinched. "We talked yesterday and now we feel better. The closer he is to us, the better it will be," Yvonne Rosenstein told Haaretz Friday. "This period, especially the uncertainty we were living with about the sentence he would have gotten, if he would have gotten it, was very hard for myself and the children. We are waiting for him to come back to Israel within two weeks."
It was also agreed that Rosenstein's property will not be confiscated. Nahari said that as he has already been incarcerated for two years, and if he gets time off for good behavior, Rosenstein will have five to nine years left to serve.