Five Israelis indicted in Los Angeles

January 16, 2011
Israeli brothers Meir and Yitzhak Abergil and three other Israelis
were ordered held in prison without bond on Jan 14; they are charged
with crimes ranging from murder and massive embezzlement to money
laundering, racketeering and running a large L.A.-based Ecstasy ring.
Yitzhak Abergil is allegedly the crime boss of the operation.

All five were extradited July 13 from Israel, after a protracted legal
battle, to stand trial in Los Angeles federal court.
.
In addition, a federal grand jury indicted Yoram El-Al, and Luis
Sandoval. The latter was charged as a member of the San Fernando
Valley-based Vineland Boyz street gang, accused as the main
distributors of the Ecstasy ring and as enforcers for the Israeli
organizers.

After the 2008 grand jury indictment, Israeli police arrested the
Abergil brothers and their associates.

An Israeli district court found the accused "extraditable" in 2009,
the defendants appealed, but last month the Israeli Supreme Court
rejected their petition.

Israeli courts have rarely agreed to extradite their citizens to other
countries, in line with the Jewish tradition of not turning over Jews
for trial in "Christian" courts. U.S. and Israeli officials have
agreed that if found guilty, the defendants would not receive the
death penalty and would serve any sentences in Israeli prisons.

Israeli police and media have frequently described the Abergils as
bosses of one the country's most powerful crime syndicates, with
extensive overseas operations.

The Los Angeles Police Department has been concerned with Israeli
crime in the city since the 1970s, as Deputy Chief Michael Downing,
who heads the LAPD's Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence
Bureau, and Captain Greg Hall, who commands the Major Crimes Division,
told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal several months ago.

While stressing the cooperation of the established Jewish and Israeli
communities with the police, the two officers noted a gradual increase
in crimes by Israelis, mostly in such white collar felonies as money
laundering, tax evasion, real estate and financial frauds. but also in
narcotics trafficking.
"Israeli crime here tends to be quite sophisticated and hard to
track," Hall said. "We're worried about what may be going on that we
don't know about."

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